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Bob Marley · Mar 4, 2007, 07:16 PM

When you buy this antivirus software, does it stay permanetely installed forever, or is it just the program that prods you to buy service?

Also, does the MacBook come with like, a built in low end antivirus system?

Thanks

rickey939 · Mar 4, 2007, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by Bob Marley

Also, does the MacBook come with like, a built in low end antivirus system?

Well, it has OS X pre-installed which is good enough for most people; however, there is no direct "anti-virus" software pre-installed by Apple.

ghporter · Mar 4, 2007, 08:12 PM

Norton Antivirus for Mac is a full program, not "trialware." It has a one-year license for updates, but the renewal is only like $5 or $10, so it's not onerous. It will prod you when the update license expires, nothing more.

And OS X does NOT come with a "low end antivirus system" because there are few existing Mac viruses and none currently in the wild.

I use Norton more because my school requires that ALL computers have an "approved" antivirus package running, even Macs (and there are a few tons of Macs here!). One great thing about running a good antivirus package on a Mac is that you can protect people who you forward emails to because it will pick up on viruses in attachments. So if your friend Joe with a PC sends you something that a virus has hitched a ride on, if you forward that to your friend Ed, Ed will still be your friend.

This is called "being a good neighbor."

analogika · Mar 4, 2007, 09:07 PM

I call it "paying my money to protect people from their own bad judgement or incompetence".

fubar_this · Mar 6, 2007, 12:14 AM

Norton AntiVirus stays installed, and detects viruses, as long as it is installed. However you are only eligible for one year of virus definition updates, which is pretty standard with all antivirus packages. So after one year it won't detect new viruses, but still detects old ones.
The only "low-end" virus scanner for Mac OS X is ClamAV but it's so terrible I can't recommend it for anything. It doesn't detect viruses automatically (you have to manually select a file to scan), it's slow as molasses and is frequently dead last in virus scanners when PC Magazine ranks the virus scanners based on their acccuracy. People bring it up often so I thought I'd mention it, but it's just not worth the free download considering how little it can do.

voiceofra · Mar 6, 2007, 01:43 AM

ClamXav - The FREE Virus Scanner for Mac OS X
Protects, as analogika said, "people from their own bad judgement or incompetence"
But as attachments contained in incoming mail are obvious w/ Mac and easily deleted, it really isnt necessary.

pcryan5 · Mar 7, 2007, 02:10 PM

How do you rate Norton AV/MAC? Any notable performance impact? Have to have your sleeves rolled up all the time when you use it.

Our corporate solution here is Trend but I'm in the same spot as you - need an AV but ...
Thanks!

P · Mar 7, 2007, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by pcryan5

How do you rate Norton AV/MAC?

Stay away! In fact, I'd stay away from Norton on the Wintel side as well, but even more so on the Mac. Clam Xav is better, but I haven't had antivirus software on my main Mac since the mid nineties, and I've never had problems.

ghporter · Mar 7, 2007, 06:27 PM

P, I completely disagree with you. I HAVE TO USE Norton on my MBP to be allowed on the school network, and I don't EVER have a problem with it. It's not "Norton Tools" or whatever that monstrosity was-this stuff WORKS. I use Symantec Client Security on my PCs, also because it's required by my school-and I have used this and prior Symantec/Norton antivirus products for over 10 years on PCs, and over 5 on Macs with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Why do you suggest staying away from these products?

P · Mar 8, 2007, 11:25 AM

Norton Utilities on the Mac basically didn't develop after 3.0. It took them ages to get HFS+ compability and with every OS update, it got a little less useful and a little more crash-prone. The first OS X versions were just abysmal - I have not seen anything more likely to cause crashes than that app. This stings all the more, because the early NUM versions were solid gold. Peter Norton himself left Symantec in the mid-nineties - after that, everything that Symantec makes money on are apps that they have bought and not managed to ruin yet and FUDding everyone into buying their Antivirus apps.

Norton Antivirus/Internet Security works - it's just a resource hog. This test is for the Windows version, but IME it's the same on the Mac. 99% of what it does is unnecessary, and it slows everything down.

mitchell_pgh · Mar 8, 2007, 12:59 PM

I've abandoned Norton. The only thing it ever found was what my Windows friends sent me.

besson3c · Mar 8, 2007, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Norton Antivirus for Mac is a full program, not "trialware." It has a one-year license for updates, but the renewal is only like $5 or $10, so it's not onerous. It will prod you when the update license expires, nothing more.

And OS X does NOT come with a "low end antivirus system" because there are few existing Mac viruses and none currently in the wild.

I use Norton more because my school requires that ALL computers have an "approved" antivirus package running, even Macs (and there are a few tons of Macs here!). One great thing about running a good antivirus package on a Mac is that you can protect people who you forward emails to because it will pick up on viruses in attachments. So if your friend Joe with a PC sends you something that a virus has hitched a ride on, if you forward that to your friend Ed, Ed will still be your friend.

This is called "being a good neighbor."

I choose to be a good neighbor by not forwarding people idiotic crap emails in the first place