01-07-2007, 06:57 AM

Hi

I am new to this forum.
I have recently received a MAC computer running OS X 10.4.8.
I am also new to the MAC operating system.
I was wondering if I need to install an antivirus/antispyware program on my computer

Thanks for the help.

01-07-2007, 07:50 AM

In short,...no.

If you're not satisfied with that answer I'll tell you that I run ClamX for AV and use it to scan my downloads folder. It's free. Stay clear of any retail box AV. One, you don't need it, and two it only wastes $50.

01-07-2007, 11:37 AM

An official Mac-Forums sticky has this to say about spyware and anti-virus applications:

* There has never been a virus or spyware released for Mac OSX to date.
* It eats up resources on some machines
* In certain situations it could cause stability issues or kernel panics

And if I may be so bold, I'll quote an old post of my own dealing with viruses and spyware:

Spyware, other than purchased apps, doesn't exist, either, so any anti-Mac spyware app is as useless as an anti-virus app full of Windows-virus-only code. A few months ago as an experiment I went to every Windows-spyware trap I could find, including about 50 pr0n sites, then ran a Mac anti-spyware app. The machine was clear. I've run the app since, and the machine was still clear. As with AV code, I don't know how any anti-spyware app could recognize spyware when none exists. How does it know what to look for?