Anti-Virus Software for Macintosh

The question

Hi All,

I know this was briefly discussed a short bit ago, but I still have some questions. I know having an Anti-Virus program on a Mac is kind of redundant, but for my PC friends who I may inadvertently send one to, I like having one. I have ClamX installed, but Sophos looks pretty good, also. Which would you all recommend, ClamX or Sophos, and why.

Thanks,

Bill.

The answer

Hello,

Being as kind as possible............ I'm imagining a few hundred readers of your question rolling their collective eyes.

This item has been asked and answered so many times in the past, I think there's a general reluctance to go over the topic again. I am guilty of some of the most humorous [read: sarcastic] posts on this point, so I'll be of little help.

It is my personal view that recipients of your emails -- which are HIGHLY unlikely to contain anything harmful -- are themselves responsible for their own safety. If they want to stop getting infected, they should buy a better computer or install the preventive software of their choice.

Analogy: If you drive a strong, sturdy vehicle and someone else drives a cheap, cheesy piece of unsafe junk, these are both choices you've individually made. If an accident occurs, it's not your responsibility to somehow have a "safer accident" that doesn't smush their cheap, cheesy vehicle into a ball of smoking, leaking tinfoil.

They made a choice.

PC users make a choice.

If you choose the festoon your Mac with anti-virus software so your PC friends don't have to make safe choices, that's up to you, but it is my personal view we are not ultimately responsible for their bad choice. All commercial versions of Mac AVS do the same thing: Make money for those who sell them. Freeware versions of AVS do absolutely nothing useful for the Mac owner, and have spotty support. You have your choice: Software that costs you money and does nothing, or software that is free and does nothing.

\\Drew

Credits

The answer was posted by Drew Janssen on the Mac Ministry List on December 23, 2010 (with a further humorous paragraph predicting that an unproductive discussion would follow, which was also true).