[AshGreen]

Hey ppl,

I am looking into getting a new macbook pro to use at work and at home, i know that really you can get away without anti virus on macs but my plans aer to have a Virtual Machine of XP AND Vista for use at work (im a support engineer!!)

SOOO knowing the plauge of windows ow too well ( widnows cover isnt need get that through work )

Id feel happier with my new toy if i could get something on there!
Ive used Intego x4 stuff on an iBook i had before hand but its a while since ive had that (the gf nicked it for college )

but anyway which do you lot think would be best??

Ta

[ThreeDee912]

Don't use Intego's stuff. From experience on another Mac forum, it's known to cause trouble later on, and I think it's not worth the money.

On the Windows VM, you could simply install something like AVG Free and Spybot.

There's really no antivirus software to install on the OS X side of things. Also, a Mac AV program can't scan the Windows partition (at least I don't think so...).

[joe marley1]

Hello,
In a similar vein - I've read that ClamXav is a good free anti-virus program. BUT, I just got a new Macbook and as I recall with the PC I had previously, intensive web searching (lots of windows at once, sometimes hours a day) researching for work or school seemed to load my computer down and I had to scan regularly for spyware and malware in addition to viruses. Now, I've read that as of this time, there are no confirmed spyware bots or viruses for OS X - but what about all the weight of all the other stuff burrying it down. On PC's, I know there were cookies and temp files that would be stored for each web page visited right? And files listing all pages visited? I know how to clear the history on this thing, but is that only wiping the surface? This is a brand new computer, I spent a lot of money on it, and I just want to keep it as clean and capable as it is now for a long time. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Also, unrelatedly, do Mac users get free updates to the next OS update - i.e. Leopard?

[ThreeDee912]

Hi again, ClamXav is pretty good, but it's a bit limited in what it can do. I use it myself to scan downloads sometimes.

Cache shouldn't make browsing slower. It was specifically supposed to make browsing frequently viewed pages load faster. Most browsers have a setting to limit the amount of stuff being cached, so it doesn't waste your free space. I'm pretty sure Safari automatically manages the cache for you.

If you want to clear cache anyway, In the Safari 3 beta (meaning a test version), you can go to the Safari menu and select "Empty Cache...". I'm not sure if Safari 2 has this. You can get the latest-and-greatest version of Safari from http://www.apple.com/safari/. As for cookies, you can go to Safari>Preferences>[Security] tab>(Show Cookies) button. Cookies are also pretty harmless.

Firefox has a "Clear Private Data" function, where you can choose to remove a variety of temporary web files. You can even set it to clear it's cache every time you close the browser.

As for the updates, I think you purchased your MacBook at an unlucky time. 10.5 "Leopard" is rumored to be out this October, for about $120. You don't get an upgrade to 10.5. Apple gives free updates for each 'minor' version. You have 10.4 "Tiger", so you get free updates to 10.4.1, 10.4.2, 10.4.3, 10.4.5, and so on. I think the most recent is "10.4.10". Odd numbering, I know. You also get all of the security updates that go along with it. To get updates for your Mac, just select the Apple menu at the top left and choose "Software Update...".