03-08-2008, 01:55 PM

Hello, everyone! This is an awesome forum -- it has already helped me so much just as a lurker. I am a longtime PC user (former snob about macs) -- just purchased the 20" iMac. I felt like I knew more than the average bear about PCs, but now I feel like I am starting over again!

So far I am having a great time with it, but have found a couple issues that I know have been addressed here quite a bit... first, to anti-virus or not to anti-virus? I know there is a lot of disagreement on this issue -- it does feel weird not to have any protection. I'm still not sure, after reading all the opinions here, what to do.

Also, the lack of good personal finance software. I really liked Microsoft Money -- Quicken looks similar, but the version for Macs received dismal consumer reviews, and I don't know if I want to invest in the $70 to try it out. Which leads to another issue... is Mac software always so much more expensive/hard to find?

Thanks for your time! This forum is a wonderful resource for Mac newbies.

03-08-2008, 02:03 PM

welcome Aquarius (from an aquarius )!


i don't run any anti-virus, but i do have a free app to scan at will (not actively). i think if you often share files back and forth with windows machines, you may want to invest in some sort of protection so you don't become a carrier.

03-08-2008, 02:04 PM

Welcome to MF Aquarius!

Enjoy your new Imac. I made the switch about 7 months ago and I have never regretted it.

I use no anti-virus on my Macbook and haven't had any problems. One of the first questions I had when getting my Mac was about anti-virus, I think its just because I was used to being paranoid from being a PC user.

Enjoy and welcome again!

03-08-2008, 02:20 PM

The antivirus thing has been infused into a lot of people cause of Windows. They think that a virus is something organic and has a mind of it's own. Not realising that it's just a piece of code that exploits some holes in the system. Those holes are completely different in Windows, Mac or Linux. So there will have to be a separate mac virus to affect you. Currently there is 1, but it needs your admin/pass to do anything at all. So I think you should be safe without an antivirus.

03-08-2008, 04:28 PM

Thanks, everyone! I feel better about not having virus software. I guess stuff like that just takes some getting used to! I've been trying out a trial of "MoneyDance" (on the recommendation of some threads on here), and it seems to be pretty similar to MS Money (at least for what I used it for).

Thanks again!

03-08-2008, 04:33 PM

Take pride in plugging in your friend's pen drive full of viruses and pointing out the EXEs and DLLs

03-08-2008, 04:40 PM

lmao@goobi

I, also, do not use an anti-virus software. The only thing that I do for protection is... nothing! OSX comes with a built in firewall that protects you without the user even doing anything!

03-08-2008, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by Aquarius

Hello, everyone! This is an awesome forum -- it has already helped me so much just as a lurker. I am a longtime PC user (former snob about macs) -- just purchased the 20" iMac. I felt like I knew more than the average bear about PCs, but now I feel like I am starting over again!

So far I am having a great time with it, but have found a couple issues that I know have been addressed here quite a bit... first, to anti-virus or not to anti-virus? I know there is a lot of disagreement on this issue -- it does feel weird not to have any protection. I'm still not sure, after reading all the opinions here, what to do.

Also, the lack of good personal finance software. I really liked Microsoft Money -- Quicken looks similar, but the version for Macs received dismal consumer reviews, and I don't know if I want to invest in the $70 to try it out. Which leads to another issue... is Mac software always so much more expensive/hard to find?

Thanks for your time! This forum is a wonderful resource for Mac newbies.

First off, welcome Aquarius! I, too, am a long time Windows user that has recently turned away from the dark side!

As for your AV question, there are no viruses for OS-X and, therefore, I see no real reason to use up resources on it.

Financial software. Boy, this is one I'm struggling with myself. I'm a long time Quicken user (on the Windows platform) so I naturally turned to it for the Mac. It isn't bad. It works just fine. However ... it doesn't look anything like what most mac aps look like these days. I understand they are working on a new Mac version that, from the screenshots I saw, looks much more like what they ought to. But until then I'm stuck with '07. There are other applications out there. I almost bought iBank. But my dependence on Intuit's product over many years won me over. But I really like the iBank's UI and, if Intuit wasn't working on a new Mac ap, I'd probably switch over to it.

Hope this helps...

03-08-2008, 04:49 PM

Welcome to Mac-Forums and to the Mac, Aquarius !

03-08-2008, 04:51 PM

I switched the first of this year. Wish I could have done it sooner.

I use boot camp for my window programs. It'll take a while to switch completely over because you can't get upgrade prices when going from windows to mac.

Also, no antivirus needed, but I use 'Little Snitch' for peace of mind and it has stopped some emails from trying to make unauthorized connections.

03-08-2008, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by Aquarius

So far I am having a great time with it, but have found a couple issues that I know have been addressed here quite a bit... first, to anti-virus or not to anti-virus? I know there is a lot of disagreement on this issue -- it does feel weird not to have any protection. I'm still not sure, after reading all the opinions here, what to do.

There aer no viruses on OS X to protect against. The only reason to have an AV program is to avoid relaying Windows viruses along (via email attachments for example), but the way I see it, that's their problem, not mine.

Also, the lack of good personal finance software. I really liked Microsoft Money -- Quicken looks similar, but the version for Macs received dismal consumer reviews, and I don't know if I want to invest in the $70 to try it out. Which leads to another issue... is Mac software always so much more expensive/hard to find?

Look no further than iBank 3. I'm pretty new to finance apps in general and have spent some time fiddling with several over the past couple months, but the newly-released iBank 3 now has Quicken-like direct connect features and is the most "Mac-like" app of them all. And cheaper than Quicken (which I would avoid like the plague... their Quickbooks had a serious bug that wiped out some peoples' desktops... simply inexcusable IMO). Moneybank is just butt-ugly and highly un Mac-like. iBank 3 seems to be pretty well rounded with features now and pretty comparable to MS Money and Quicken now that they've added online banking features. It suits my needs anyway.

As for Mac software in general... the selection is lower, but often what is available tends to be pretty well done. Finding software isn't so difficult.... just keep VersionTracker.com bookmarked and search their site for what you need. It's a GREAT resource. A good Googler can find anything they need otherwise.

03-08-2008, 08:26 PM

Back to the anti-virus issue...

1. I am comfortable with the fact that the Mac is totally resilient when it comes to viruses. But I also use my Mac for business purposes. I email clients extensively. While I may be immune to such problems, it doesn't look good when you forward an email to a client with a PC and their antivirus software picks up something undesirable in it. For this reason, I do use antivirus software.

2. I have been known on occasion to download software from questionable sources. This tends to increase you're chances of acquiring something undesirable. While this may not affect me personally, see #1 above.

I use Norton for Mac, only because of #2 above. I am not a big Norton fan, becuase it tends to be very bloated and bog your system down, however, it does have a feature to select which folders on your system it monitors. You can set it to ignore the rest of your HD and this keeps it from slowing the system down. I monitor my folders into which downloaded items are recorded. I also monitor my emails. Everything else is ignored by the antivirus software. It checks my downloads and emails, but doesn't constantly monitor everything else that I do.

03-08-2008, 08:51 PM

First and foremost... Welcome to the board! ;-)

The biggest reason that viruses and worms infect Windows based systems so easily is that Windows OS sets the infrastructure by which a lot of these executables are allowed to be downloaded and opened automatically, often with minimum input from the system's user or owner. Active X is a perfect example.

Mac OS X is, at it's core, an operating system based on BSD, which is a UNIX based operating system with a Mach kernel. As such, it is a multiple user type platform that makes use of permissions for access and system administration for it's security. You can easily set up your computer to notify you, and even require you to enter a system administration password for access, changes, or installation of programs into your system. You can strictly control what applications your computer downloads and runs. To me, that is the greatest measure of security you can give your computer. The applications that I have to keep an eye on, (interestingly enough), are MS Office for Mac and the plug ins for the browsers. Keep in mind that those applications can enable you to use your browser with greater range and flexibility, but they can also be used by an unscrupulous code writer to access and abuse your computer. As long as you exercise good judgement regarding what you allow to be downloaded and run on your computer, you should be fine with your new Mac.

03-08-2008, 09:57 PM

Yes, welcome! After others see you enjoying your mac, they too will eventually switch... or at least buy an ipod. It takes a bit of courage to take the "risk" of switching. But... everyone I know who has switched loves it! I have norton installed... i got it at a really good price... I installed it and bought it because i dont wanna be the one who carries and passes on viruses to my windows friends.....Its outa consideration of my friends.

03-08-2008, 10:11 PM

Welcome to the forum.

Re: personal finance software, there was a pretty good discussion of various types in this THREAD.

I'm still using MS Money. It's the only software that I still run in Windows using the Bootcamp partition that comes standard with the Mac.