iMac: The Darkside?

[coastie]

I'm new to the iMac so a question for all - are you running any extra anti-virus software? The Apple Store seems to infer that it's not needed?

Maybe I'm just nervous coming from PC's where you need to load it up with security.

I ran virus scan for the first time in three years just last week out of curiosity and it found "0" viruses. I would not worry about it.

 

[rem]

I have owned a Mac computer for some 30 years or so, and have yet to encounter a virus. If you're genuinely concerned about it, there are several anti-virus softwares available. I tend to use one that is free off the Internet, called Clamxav. You can download it here. http://www.clamxav.com/download.php


Otherwise just punch in "Mac anti-virus software" in a search. http://mac-antivirus-software-review.toptenreviews.com


good luck. May the Mac be with you R ::003::

 

[JonnyCinco]

Not that I am an old buck, but I am at that age where we adopted this technology early on (I am 31). So, when iTunes first hit the market, we started using it. As you can imagine with technology advancing, I have replaced and have had several hardrives bite the dust. Well, I think I am on my last "authorized" computer with a couple thousand songs.

I understand what iTunes is "attempting" to protect with authorizing computers. But in the end, if I purchased the song, I should not have to worry about authorizing and de authorizing songs, and be able to place it on as many PC/Mac's as I want.

Heck, I have we have 5 computers alone in home, so now what?

I just purchase songs via Amazon now (f the cloud player).

 

[AVGeek]

It is possible to do a blanket de-authorization. It's a once yearly or one time (I forget which) option. I have used it once to clear out everything and start again.

Another great resource is the Apple communities on apple.com. Its usually the first place I go when I need some assistance with anything Apple.

 

[mobyfubar]

Everything should have anti-virus running on it. Macs may be less of a target than PCs but they can still be infected. We just identified an infected Mac at work this week.

Clamxav is a good free AV product, I use it.

 

[tpak]

I'm new to the iMac so a question for all - are you running any extra anti-virus software? The Apple Store seems to infer that it's not needed?

Maybe I'm just nervous coming from PC's where you need to load it up with security.

Generally speaking, no. There are occasional virus' that target OS X but they are rare. At home I don't run any visrus software actively but do use the ClamAV open source scanner on occasion just to do a sanity check - this also checks that any files received in Windows formats such as Excel/Word/PPT are not infected and that I do not pass on infected files unknowingly. At work, my IT guys install Kaspersky AV by default on all of the Macs (we have a lot of them) for much the same reason. I have found that on my late model MacBook Pro I do not notice any added lag or issues from it so far.

I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over it on the Mac.

YMMV

 

[Maxified]

Heck, I have we have 5 computers alone in home, so now what?

You do not have to load every computer with all of your songs, audio books, videos, etc., just click the share library option in iTunes to share among the computers accessing your home network (password protection optional). We all have varied experiences with stuff we buy, sorry yours has not been so good with iTunes. My hard drives have run well on the all my Macs but I have upgraded HD's periodically to obtain more storage; have had no problems with iTunes when swapping out HD's.

 

[colorider]

Received the new iMac yesterday morning and spent a good part of the day setting it up. Had a few problems and had to call my neighbor over for some pointers on getting the wireless printer to work and to transfer some files to the HD from my portable drive. Never could get the "Migration Assistant" to work for file transfer. Also downloaded OpenOffice to run my old Office files.

So far - so good!!!

::012::

 

[Checkswrecks]

Make sure to add an external hard drive for backups with Time Machine, or pay for one of the cloud services. Even Apple hard drives fail at some point!

 

[creggur]

Make sure to add an external hard drive for backups with Time Machine, or pay for one of the cloud services. Even Apple hard drives fail at some point!

::026:: - no machine is impervious to hard drive failure! I use a cloud-based service and enjoy the worry-free nature of it. Think I pay $15.00 a year or something like that - cheap insurance. The initial backup is the only PITA - after that it just runs quietly in the background with no discernible loss of performance or speed.