[X-Newbies] Anti Virus Software

[Randy B.Singer]

Chris Walker said:

>So the question is which is the best anti-virus software, or are they
>much the same?  I don't use .mac so Virex is out, which I guess leaves
>Intego or Norton.
>
>Has anyone experience of either of these that they might care to pass on?
> I'm most interested in whether either of them are obtrusive, or likely
>to mess up my system (X10.3.5) in any way.


Intego's VirusBarrier is entirely seamless.  But the Intego folks told me 
that it does not look for any non-Mac viruses.  Norton Anti-Virus (NAV) 
installs a kernel extension and has been implicated by a number of folks 
with causing instability in OS X.

Note that it is highly unlikely that you might unwittingly transfer a 
Windows virus to a Windows-using colleague.  Windows-only viral e-mail 
attachments that you receive can just be trashed, they are easy to spot, 
so it isn't at all likely that you will be re-sending them.  Files that 
show up with macro-viruses can be blocked by setting "Macro Virus 
Protection" in Word's preferences.  Any unknown macro can be deleted in 
Word.

You aren't going to be a go-between for transfering Windows applications, 
are you?   So VirusBarrier should be all that you need.  The "problem" of 
Macs being carriers and spreaders of Windows viruses is a myth 
perpetuated by Windows biggots.



Randy B. Singer
Co-Author of: The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

Routine OS X Maintenance and Generic Troubleshooting
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html