mac virus protection

[elduderino]

Hi there,

Ive just initaited myself in to the wonderful world of mac with a beautiful 17" G4 Powerbook.

Ive been a windows user for ages but thought it was bout time to move oveer to the designers choice of machine.

Could anyone tell me if its neccasary to get virus protection for my mac. Ive heard there not many viruses for macs.

[LiquidReflex]

There aren't very many viruses geared toward the Mac but there are some that are geared to Unix (which might affect a Mac because it's Unix-based). Also, some may reside on your computer, not affecting your Mac because it's a Windows virus, but could attach itself to files you send out and affect their machines.

You can check out ClamXav, it's a free virus scanner for OS X.

[elduderino]

HI liquid reflex thanks for the advice ive just downloaded that software

[Akela]

You are going to love using mac!
I also switched over from Windows (about a year ago) and haven't had any problems with my machine so far. Nothing like a PC.

[holmescreek]

I switched, as a 20+ year programmer over a year ago. I haven't had a need to run any AV software. And with OS/X's mail.app, I don't have to worry about spam much. In addition, with the built in OS/X firewall under my ISP's firewall, well not much to worry about there either.

Even if you install Virutal PC, and install windows, it won't touch your OS/X file system.

Welcome to the real world! Welcome to OS/X!

[holmescreek]

You are going to love using mac!
I also switched over from Windows (about a year ago) and haven't had any problems with my machine so far. Nothing like a PC.

It's amazing how the term "PC" always settles into the mind as a "Windows Computer" rather than "P"ersonal "C"omputer.

[holmescreek]

Then again, when it comes to a PC, I'm suprised Microsoft hasn't patented and moved on another acronym, PoC short for Piece of Crap.

[theGWS]

I've ALWAYS been a Mac user and I've NEVER had a virus with OSX. Start getting used to not having any.

You should also get used to rebooting your PowerBook once about every 2-3 weeks.

[Akela]

...I'm suprised Microsoft hasn't patented and moved on another acronym, PoC short for Piece of Crap.

[goofy]

You should also get used to rebooting your PowerBook once about every 2-3 weeks.

Yeh now I know the meaning of uptime.

[holmescreek]

My G5 typically runs 24/7 for months. The only time I need a reboot is in the rare case I install some new software.

[vgarcia]

You should also get used to rebooting your PowerBook once about every 2-3 weeks.

My crappy home PC lasts longer than that. I only reboot/shut down for vacations and software updates.

I'm not trying to start a Mac versus PC flamewar, but constant rebooting isn't required with any modern OS.

[elduderino]

Ive laways tended to shut my machines down when im not using them. for example at the end of the day. Should i be leaving it on more? Is it not good to turn it on and off lots?

Also on a seperate note how do i go about uninstalling an app on my mac?

Thanks

[theGWS]

Ive laways tended to shut my machines down when im not using them. for example at the end of the day. Should i be leaving it on more? Is it not good to turn it on and off lots?

Also on a seperate note how do i go about uninstalling an app on my mac?

Thanks

I only turn my PowerBook off when absolutely necessary (ie: installing memory, etc). In other words, it has seldom been turned off. When I'm not using it, it sleeps.


To uninstall an app: Drag it to the trash.

[elduderino]

Hi there,

Thanks for the info!

So am i right in thinking my powerbook will run better if i leave it on?

also by dragging, say, my desktop icon, of the app i want to uninstall, to the trash unintalls it?

[holmescreek]

I always leave my machine one.

To uninstall OS/X apps just drag the apps icon from the applications folder to your trash can.

[theGWS]

I can't confirm that it will run better by keeping it on all the time. Don't quote me on this, but I would think 100% uptime could degrade performance (just because the memory being used, paging, swap drive, etc), but never enough degradation that you'd be able to notice, however don't quote me on that. If anyone else has experience with this, then please chime in. I like to leave mine on 24/7 because I don't want to sit through a boot-up every time I want to use it.

I remember reading some 'geek' tip in a magazine several years ago. It said that starting and stopping your computer was hard on it kind of like stop-and-go traffic on your car. If you can get in your car and just drive for hundreds of hours on the freeway with no traffic, a similar vehicle driven for the same number of hours in stop-and-go traffic will be a lot more 'worn out' despite the fact it has fewer miles on it.

OT -> This is (or was) true for Boeing jetliners. The jets are warranted for a certain number of cycles (each cycle consists of one take-off and one landing). It doesn't matter how many hours it stays up in the air because once it's running the way it was designed to run, it SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS. The wear and tear comes from the take-offs and landings. Okay, that was way off topic, but hopefully you get the point.