Antvirus???>Firewall???>Spyware...

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I have just injected myself into MAcland by making the SwiTcH. I have just purchased a NeW ReV 12" Powerbook 1.33GHZ Superdrive...I Love iT

Since, I am fresh OS X user I have some questions about antivirus, firewalls, and spyware software



? AntiVirus - Do I need antivirus?? ANy recomendations (Virex, Norton)?? An y freeare



? Firewall - Do I need a firewall??? Any recomendations (Norton=NoGooD)?? Any freeware???

?Spyware -Do I need spyware, especially if someone somewhere wanted to use a P2P filesharing client such as Limeware??? Any suggestions on Spyware and/or P2P??? Any freeware???



TIA

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    There do not exist any known viruses for Mac OS X. So a virus scanner is probably a waste of money.



    Mac OS X comes with an excellent firewall, go to System Preferences then "Sharing" then "Firewall." Click "Start" to start it.



    The existance of spyware on Mac OS X is debatable, mainly because of the vaugeness of the term. At any rate, occurances of spyware for Mac OS X are very rare at most and there aren't any spyware removers/scanners for Mac OS X.



    If you want a good P2P client, you best bets are:



    XFactor (best)

    Poisoned (better)

    Acquisition X (good)



    I would advise you to stay away from anything else - especially LimeWire.



    Barto
  • Reply 2 of 14
    staphbabystaphbaby Posts: 353member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ByteMe

    ? AntiVirus - Do I need antivirus?? ANy recomendations (Virex, Norton)?? An y freeare



    It's probably best not to feel too secure, against the day when Mac viruses finally are released into the wild. If you must get antivirus software for Mac now (which is debatable, although it helps you not lose PC friends when you unwittingly pass on infected files to them), Virex and Norton's are OK (I'd rate Norton above Virex, much as it pains me to say). Sophos Sweep on OS X is OK... certainly good enough for the job, such as it is.



    Virex comes for free with .Mac; otherwise I don't think there are any free virus scanning pieces of software.



    Re. firewalls, you can supplement the inbuilt firewall (which is very good) with Little Snitch from obdev if you're worried about applications phoning home: it's a very solid product, and reasonably cheap too.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    bytemebyteme Posts: 45member
    Quote:

    If you want a good P2P client, you best bets are:



    XFactor (best)

    Poisoned (better)

    Acquisition X (good)



    I would advise you to stay away from anything else - especially LimeWire.



    Thanks for the recommendations and advice. I have a question quick question about XFactor.

    ? - How do I get XFactor to run??? I copied the folder to my app.s but when i 2Xclick it, it only opens the folder it does not run the app...Help PleaSe..I am sooo new to this. TIA
  • Reply 4 of 14
    For a good overview on using Macs in general, check out "Getting started with Mac OS X version 10.2" It is, as the title suggests, specific to Jaguar (10.2) but the basics are the same as 10.3. It should still be a great help.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    bytemebyteme Posts: 45member
    HeY Barto -

    I have no idea how to run XFactor. The folder contains text such as change log, copying, and a readme, but there is no executible. How do I run this app? TIA
  • Reply 6 of 14
    I DLed XFactor just to check for you. The folder has those three documents and the application itself. If that's not there, try unzipping it again, if that doesn't work, try downloading it again.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    bytemebyteme Posts: 45member
    Quote:

    I DLed XFactor just to check for you. The folder has those three documents and the application itself. If that's not there, try unzipping it again, if that doesn't work, try downloading it again.



    Could you post a hyperlink?

    I only have the 3 documents and I have downloaded the app from 3 different locations.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    Awesome! Hadnt used P2P in a while... hadnt heard about Xfactor...



    Works WAY better than Acquisition.



    I downloaded the latest Xfactor and I have no issues here. Works.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    bytemebyteme Posts: 45member
    Where did you dl Xfacto from?
  • Reply 10 of 14
    I just used the link in barto's original reply to the first message.

    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    If you want a good P2P client, you best bets are:



    XFactor (best)

    Poisoned (better)

    Acquisition X (good)



    I would advise you to stay away from anything else - especially LimeWire.



    Barto




  • Reply 11 of 14
    cam'roncam'ron Posts: 503member
    whats wrong with limewire? sorry to get off topic, but i wouldnt mind the pros and cons to he diff p2ps.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    tak1108tak1108 Posts: 222member
    If you don't see the app, try expanding your window. It could be below or off to the side.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cam'ron

    whats wrong with limewire? sorry to get off topic, but i wouldnt mind the pros and cons to he diff p2ps.



    It is the *one* app for Mac OS X that I've heard will install spyware.



    On top of that, it's Java; so, it's slo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ow and the interface is a bit wonky.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    There do not exist any known viruses for Mac OS X. So a virus scanner is probably a waste of money.



    Mac OS X comes with an excellent firewall, go to System Preferences then "Sharing" then "Firewall." Click "Start" to start it.



    The existance of spyware on Mac OS X is debatable, mainly because of the vaugeness of the term. At any rate, occurances of spyware for Mac OS X are very rare at most and there aren't any spyware removers/scanners for Mac OS X.



    If you want a good P2P client, you best bets are:



    XFactor (best)

    Poisoned (better)

    Acquisition X (good)



    I would advise you to stay away from anything else - especially LimeWire.



    Barto




    I agree completely with Barto and everyone else who's mentioned it on this. A virus scanner for OS X is pretty pointless. It's a HUGE waste of money.



    As far p2p apps are concerned I really like Direct Connect. It works well for me and its interface is great. Soon there'll be a newer and better version out called MacDC++. Right now though it's in development stages and only beta testers like me really have access to it at the moment. Don't feel bad though because it's not really functional so all I do is check for bugs etc and then report back to the developer.



    YES! Stay away from Limewire as Barto and Brad have said. It's the only possible "spyware" threat for OS X and its interface is hella slow. I admit it's gotten better compared to past versions but it's still nothing compared to Direct Connect and the sort. That's just my opinion remember so if you'd like to try Limewire or anything that uses its network, the Gnutella network, be my guest.



    I hope that help



    -PiBO 2k2
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