Vid Rec

[hederahelix]

First things first. This heat wave? Totally ready for it to be over.

Second thing. Anticipating the paychecks that will come with my insane 60 hour a week schedule over the next few months, and being ready to toss the laptop through the nearest window every time it slows to a halt for no readily apparent reason, I may have ordered a new computer

Comments

[the_shoshanna]

I've seen Virex recommended, but honestly, people I trust who are actual experts in this (I'm thinking specifically of Randy Singer, co-author of The Macintosh Bible) say that Mac users do not need antivirus/antispyware. (Unless you are running Windows via Bootcamp or Parallels or the like, in which case of course your Windows installation needs everything any other Windows installation needs.) Use the usual care about phishing, Trojans, and macro viruses, and install Virex or something else if you want (I can't say where to get it, as I don't use it), but there is no known instance of a Mac virus in the wild and doing harm. That won't remain true forever, of course, but for now, just being alert for alerts is all you really need. (A subscription to TidBITS should come with every new Mac; read that and you will always know what you need to know.)

For more info, check out the archives of the Mac OSX yahoogroup here, especially Randy Singer's post here. (I don't know if messages on that group are members-only, but it's easy to join to read them . . . ) I actually run ClamX, but Singer dislikes it because it watches for Unix viruses but not Mac-specific ones. I know this, so I'm not assuming I'm more protected than I am.

And eat your veggies *points to icon*. All will be well.

[the_shoshanna]

Whoops, sorry: VirusBarrier, from Intego, not Virex. You can tell I don't pay much attention to this.

[hederahelix]

This is fabulous and awesome news, and the comments overall seem to say the same thing.

I've got to tell you, each day I get closer to the new machine, I wonder why I put up with PCs as long as I did.

Thanks for the info.