Are there any anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam programs out there for mac machines?

Symantec has a pretty complete line of the Norton antivirus, firewall, etc products for Mac. Pretty good stuff. They delivered for the Mac for a very long time.

Thanks!

I've done well without any on 3 different Macs for the last 4 years. I do have a dual chip MacBook Pro that if I ever get the PC side going will certainly need protection.

quote:

Originally posted by homebrewer:
Are there any anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam programs out there for mac machines?

You don't need any.

Why, exactly, do macs not require such protections? I have always thought that it was because the market share of them out there is so small that hackers don't waste their time trying to breech them. Is that correct?

Ya there aren't as many ASSHOLES writing viruses for them.
But it is worth having any computer protected.

I took delivery of my first Mac in February 1984. I became responsible for the support of over 1000 Mac users in an Engineering and Research community into 1993 or so.

Have had Macs in the house since those early days. Am typing this on a Mac.

All computers can be subject to attack. There are many forms of attack. Most rely on some structural weakness in the operating system or an application or utility that is specific to an operating system though there are some that take advantage of weaknesses in more common applications.

Most hackers play against Microsoft operating systems. The Mac is not immune ... just not as popular and thus not as attractive a target.

I use a Windows machine. I like the way it lets me execute what I want it to do. The mac seems to me to do things on its own. I like to click twice to execute an action; the mac executes in one click. This confuses me. I also think they are slower. My dad's iMac has a 2.0 GHz processor-- seems slow to me. My computer has the 2.2 GHz AMD 9500 Phenom in it-- and I still think it's slow. His machine is running a single ATI 128Mb 8X AGP card. I use two nVidia 8800GTS 640Mbs in SLi-- and I think my video is slow. Macs are supposed to be so great for graphics and stuff, but I just don't "get" them. My dad and I have our tit-for-tat go-rounds about Windows vs. Mac. He loves it; I hate the damned thing...

I used first IBM then Macs for years, now have a PC at home cause the girlfriend knew Windows. I hate it so much I can't even explain, I'd like 5min alone with Bill Gates.
I'm sorting out another machine, I think I'll try a PC but use some other OS.
I swear I'll never load Windows into another computer as long as I live.

quote:

Originally posted by homebrewer:
Why, exactly, do macs not require such protections? I have always thought that it was because the market share of them out there is so small that hackers don't waste their time trying to breech them. Is that correct?

Yah, but it's getting larger all the time. The reality is its operating system is not only elegant but quite sturdy to outside intrusions as well. It takes considerable effort to hack the Mac system. This is why many groups who have security issues are moving to it.

I am typing this on a brand spanking new Macbook that I received today.

The reason I had to get a new one is the 8 year old Ti-book my son gave me finally quite. How many 8 year old PC lap tops do you see being used today? (A Ti-book is a titanium cased I book made by mac for a few years)

I am in education and have to know and use pc and mac every day. A few years ago I could have maybe ordered a PC and been happy. Not no more.

My wife got a Dell lap top early this year and I had to set it up the first day we got it. We have a wireless router with Wildblue satellite connection. It took me (what seemed like) a couple of hours to get everything set up on that computer. Since then, any use of that computer drives me into fits of rage. It seems like you are constantly closing pop-ups and prompts.

I plugged this one in and within 10 minutes I was surfing. I can take this one anywhere and it will automatically find the wireless connection and hook up.

The librarian at school set up two new computer carts at school. One was 10 PC lap tops and the other was 10 macbooks. After 3 weeks of school the mac books are being taken first and the pcs are taken only after the macs are gone.

I had a long talk with my son as he uses the most powerful macs available for his 3D work, asking him if the additional cost was worth it. His answer was, "how long have your macs lasted?" After thinking about all the macs I have used and still have laying around that still work, I had to agree with him.

I paid twice as much for this as I would have for a PC. However, I don't have to get any software to work on video, pics of any kind and if my experience with them is normal, I won't have to buy another one for 7 to 8 years. Maybe longer.

As my students would say, THIS THING ROCKS.

Jim