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s4iscool · Nov 29, 2003, 12:14 PM

A mac fan friend who got me to switch, told me that macs dont really need virus protectors. he said in the last 15 years he's used macs, hes never had a problem.

i ahve access to Norton9.0, but dont want to install it if its not needed. I prefer to have as little as possible running in the background.

what are your opinions?

TheSpaz · Nov 29, 2003, 12:23 PM

I've never used virus protection software in my 8 years of Macs. I seem to have been free of viruses all that time.

tabarnak · Nov 29, 2003, 01:04 PM

i had virex on os8-9 days because of the old virus we once had, the quicktime autostart, and it was more than 5 years ago if i remember correctly.

since osX (10.0), i never had one virus or heard about an osX virus. and i'm not a safe user. put me on a pc and i would probably have to reinstall software once a month!

but if you work with important stuff, you could get one just to be sure. but don't worry about this...

TheIceMan · Nov 29, 2003, 01:38 PM

s4iscool: It's true. You don't need an antivirus program. I think that the creators of viruses simply don't target Macs nearly as much because they won't get the satisfaction of pissing off only 3% of the public. Whereas with Windows, trojans and viruses can affect millions since about 97% of the world use Windows.

I had Norton and it was actually more trouble than helpful. It took forever to locate all the files it stashed away. Man, removing it was a pain in the a$$. I remember posting the same question when I was a new switcher a year ago. And many MacNNers told me the same thing I'm telling you now. This is one of the reasons why I love Macs!

Grey Cell · Nov 29, 2003, 01:52 PM

Had Norton on OS 8 & 9. Didn't get along with it.

Since 10.0.0, I no longer have anti-virus software installed. Never had any trouble, and I'm fairly sure I've never passed on PC viruses to other PC users either.

Us OS X folks don't really have to worry about viruses. But of course, if ever someone decides to make a virus for OS X, we'll be thoroughly screwed...

Mac007 · Nov 30, 2003, 01:29 AM

You have two simple choices. Use virus protection and know you're safe or don't use it and hope you're safe.

Mr. Blur · Nov 30, 2003, 01:50 AM

again? http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=188945

Gul Banana · Nov 30, 2003, 02:06 AM

Originally posted by Mac007:
You have two simple choices. Use virus protection and know you're safe or don't use it and hope you're safe.

Except that if a virus is, some day, written for OS X, none of the current antivirus software will know about it until they've been updated. It will also be Big News...

Cipher13 · Nov 30, 2003, 09:40 AM

Originally posted by Mac007:
You have two simple choices. Use virus protection and know you're safe or don't use it and hope you're safe.

You forgot option 3... don't use protection and know you're safe.

You will be. Don't bother. Especially with Norton software... Norton stuff is absolutely horrid.

Millennium · Nov 30, 2003, 10:22 AM

Although there are no known viruses written specifically for OSX, it is still prudent to run anti-virus software, because any computer can carry a virus even if it can't actually become infected.

However, avoid Norton and Virex. These programs were both wonderful on OS9, but Norton on OSX has a reputation for creating more problems than it solves, and Virex on OSX is a complete joke. There are other anti-virus programs which will get the job done better.

OldManMac · Nov 30, 2003, 10:43 AM

Originally posted by Millennium:
Although there are no known viruses written specifically for OSX, it is still prudent to run anti-virus software, because any computer can carry a virus even if it can't actually become infected.

However, avoid Norton and Virex. These programs were both wonderful on OS9, but Norton on OSX has a reputation for creating more problems than it solves, and Virex on OSX is a complete joke. There are other anti-virus programs which will get the job done better.

Such as?

pat++ · Nov 30, 2003, 11:04 AM

Don't install any anti-virus software on OS X. At best, it won't do anything... All it can do is get you into trouble and slow down your computer.

ambush · Nov 30, 2003, 11:18 AM

hey, it's this week's VIRUSES ON OS X thread.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

Visnaut · Nov 30, 2003, 12:15 PM

to s4iscool:

As you can tell, from the above, there is no immediate or direct reason for your to run anti-virus software on your mac.

However, if you find yourself constantly in a multi-platform environment, where you're swapping Word files from work or school machines, sending them to PC collegues, editing them on your mac, and so on, you may find it useful. Why? I'll give you an example: Just recently, my girlfriend started work on a Word file on a school computer. This file was passed around to various PCs before she finished editing it on her Powerbook. She submitted said file to her teacher, but was later warned that her computer "had a virus" because the teacher's email client had revealed that the Word file she sent from her PB was infected with some virus. Somewhere along the line in one of the various PCs, the Word file had been infected, and the fact that it left her mac unaffected, it did not stop her from being a carrier.

Case in point: If you swap files constantly, it may be an issue. Otherwise, forget about it. Even after the whole incident passed, my gf still didn't care enough to get anti-virus software. And unless you have constant issues like this, then I wouldn't either.

Hope this helped to put things in perspective.

rambo47 · Nov 30, 2003, 12:24 PM

Running anti-virus software on your Mac is all about being a "good internet citizen." Although any virus you may have on a document will not effect your Mac, you can pass it on to the poor, misguided masses of pc users.

If everyone (especially system admins) took virus protection more seriously and ran the protection software, installed patches, etc., then viruses would be almost non-existant, like on Macs.

Millennium · Nov 30, 2003, 04:40 PM

Originally posted by Millennium:
Although there are no known viruses written specifically for OSX, it is still prudent to run anti-virus software, because any computer can carry a virus even if it can't actually become infected.

I thought I should add somethiung else to this. If you run Word or Excel -as many if not most Mac users do- then you are still at risk for catching Microsoft macro viruses, which can usually infect any platform running these programs (a few cannot run on Macs, but these are rare and tend to be more conspicuous than those which can).

Macro viruses (the plural of macro virus, as opposed to macro virii, which is incorrect) are normally limited in the damage they can do to a Mac, because of the superior security model, but they can still do some damage even if you don't run as root. If you do run as root (a stupid move for many reasons, of which this is only one) then most macro viruses will be just as harmful to your Mac as they would be to a Windows machine.

As for good anti-virus programs, Sophos and Intego both make programs which you may want to check out.