Can't say I would either. Hell, I never use them on Windows installs either and never have any virus/malware problems.

Well...I install one every year or two just to check, but they never find anything so i then just get rid of the things.

And I have to say I think this is a bad pr move. Imagine the uproar if Microsoft did something similar.

I also don't use AV on either my Mac OS X or Windows setups.

Though once out of curiosity I decided to use IE on a clean install of XP SP2 (no further updates). I browsed some dodgy sites to see how quickly I would be infected and it sure didn't take much.

Beyond that, I usually virus scan my Windows setups briefly before I blow them away, and I've never found anything.

I also don't use anti-viral software, I have this thing about installing useless programs that at best, will slow my machine and use system resources.

Crazy right?

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I do believe that by design, Mac OS X is a relatively secure system. I don't believe it is infallible , flaws do exist and these flaws can be exploited. I also realise that there isn't much an OS can do to protect against social engineering.

I also do believe that a lot of the attacks on the Windows platform was not just because it is the popular OS, but because it was poorly designed security wise. I also don't believe that the Mac OS X platform will see attacks of the severity that has been seen on the Windows platform.

Now lets say, for arguments sake, that the only reason there is no malware on the Mac is purely because no one can be bothered. Now what? It still doesn't change the fact that there is no malware on the Mac.

We can speculate that there might be, one day, malware on the Mac platform. But it is unknown when that point will be. Like I said, if that time comes, then I will reconsider my security practices.

I find this argument utter nonsense. I don't carry condoms for my promiscuous friends. Why should I run anti-virus software to protect other peoples Windows machines.

It is the individuals responsibility to protect their own machine, not mine. Anyway all Windows users should be running AV software, so therefore their AV will be scanning all incoming files. If they're not running AV, then stupid them.

If you are so charitable, then good for. But I believe this is a weak argument and one I would not use to recommend others getting AV software.

Because they are patching security holes, which pose a threat. AV software on the other hand is protecting me against nothing.

I totally agree with Freeze's post, especially:
The day will come where someone writes a decent virus for OS X (malware/trojan horses don't really count), but it doesn't seem like that day will be too soon... and we'll all hear about it because it'll be BIG news, so we should be able to do what's needed to protect against it.
I'm not going to bog down my system with some scare-monger's craptacular app on the off chance I might repair a file for a Windows user. I don't forward attachments often enough for this to be a concern, but I'm not sure the CPU/ram/battery life hit would justify it even if I did.

Don't believe the hype. I'm sure an argument for being environmentally conscious could be made... if we all ran A/V software then we'll be using more power.

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Marc for PM!

you mean this greenpeace

Tasty news from Apple! | Greenpeace International




and running AV is a waste of time, energy resources and completely unnecessary.

....,...

nope...
didn't need to....

but then just to satisfy you i did



which is what I said in the first place only I said it a lot shorter and without all the trimmings

but just to make you happy

and running AV is a waste of time, energy resources and completely unnecessary for the majority os Mac users.

I am of the same mind with others: don't use AV, don't need to.

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