Alright Gang,

 Bought my first MacBook on Friday and after only ever using a PC (and that for only a few years) ive been playing with this little beauty all weekend. Just a few things i need to know at this stage:-

1, Do i need to download AVG Free or purchase something similar as ive read these things rarely pick up virus' (any advice taken on board)

2, How or Do i need to, now and again, delete temporary internet files, defrag and all that sort of stuff?

Look forward to your replies. 

Hi,

when it comes to viruses you are correct in that the Mac has not really been targeted by virus writers. Most of what is out there for the Mac are trojans, requiring affirmative action from the user to allow them to do their worst. However that is not to say, that with increasing popularity, the day will not come when the mac is targeted. It is also possible to be a passive carrier of Windows viruses, by forwarding infected files that have no effect on the Mac. As a result I do run an anti-virus program as a just in case & a courtesy to my Windows using friends. I can recommend ClamXav : http://www.clamxav.com/.

BTW if you ever run a virtual Windows machine then DO get an anti virus for that!!

If you wish to remove your temporary internet files then you can remove the cache by selecting the menu option Safari-->Empty Cache... To remove your browser history Safari-->Preferences, on the 'General' Panel you should see 'Remove history items:'. This clean up can be set to an automatic period or manual clean up. For the download history select Window-->Downloads & use the 'Clear' option.

As for defrag that's not something I've done on my system. Since OS 10.3 the file system HFS+ automatically handles fragmented files. However I have heard of tools such as iDefrag. afaik this is used to handle situations when you have low disk space and very little contiguous space on the disk, this can lead to fragmentation and poor performance. If you get into this situation then I'd look into a defrag tool, but until then I'd recommend letting the FS handle it for you.

I hope this helps to answer your questions,

Best Regards,

Nigel

Agree with above. In addition, to get a virus on Unix, you really do have to collude with the hacker and actually download and extract the program - it will not do it automatically. Therefore don't download or update programs unless you trust the site you are on. I did run ClamXav for a while - and sent the nice chap some money! Also downloaded another antivirus program, but they usually cost and often mess up the Mac. DON'T get Norton!

Agreed, do NOT get Norton antivirus (or any other variant), all it does is start to take up resources.

As far as getting viruses on a Mac go, it's next to impossible, unless you start using Microsoft Office (the Mac variant of course). There are a number of viruses out there which specifically target Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and they will work just as well on Word:Mac as they do on the standard Word for PC! I'd do your best to stay Microsoft free, and try and use Apple's iWork. It can open & save Microsoft Office files, and unless you use some of the more advanced features of Microsoft Office (such as stupidly complex spreadsheets, weird Word formatting options or pointless PowerPoint animations), you'll be fine with iWork.

To be honest, I'd avoid using any kinda antivirus. The user at the other end is more likely to detect the virus than you if they're running a decent antivirus package (even if you are too), and if it slips through the antivirus on your machine, it'll do the same on theirs!

No need to Defrag or delete temporary internet files (Safari does this automatically, it limits the amount you can store and does a very smart job of doing so).

The only maintenance thing you might ever need to do is 'repair disk permissions' on your hard drive in the Disk Utility app, and really, you'll only need to do this if you start getting some weird glitches/issues. There is nothing you can do to your Mac to 'keep it going', it should keep going by itself. Just don't overload it with pointless dashboard Widgets or 'hidden' apps which sit up in the menu bar (you could only do this consciously).

Enjoy your Mac, they're a haven from PC land IMO.

Wow, what great replies. Thanks

@Alex, although i dont have it installed now, Excel and Word are something i want/need to use on my MacBook.

I do create Excel spreadsheets at work which i sometimes email home to work on, but from what ive read from above i dont think i need to worry. I also send my work 'on call' timesheets to my supervisor which i created on excel, so it is important to me.

 Based on the fact that our work PC's are as safe as house's i dont htink i need to worry.

Thanks for all your replies and anyone who wants to add any info would be great.

Cheers

Mark. 

Don't use FileVault and Time Machine together! They don't like each other!! I use Microsoft Office on my mac - no problems.

BTW. The first thing i done on the MacBook was download Firefox as i used this on the PC and didnt want too many changes in one day. So im not using Safari......... Should i use safari is it better or worse than firefox?

It was probably the fact that i had read on here that safari doesnt like Beoworld... 

I find Firefox better and quicker.

I'm a Safari user, I found it faster and more reliable than Firefox. Don't like Firefox's look either. I think it changes massively from user to user though, so find which one is best for you...

I use Firefox when Safari fails.

Hello,

I use Safari myself too. But when it comes to Beoworld, I switch to Firefox.

The reason why ? Because I can't manage to parametize the presentation of my message (words, letters, image, etc.).

By the way, I use MS Office for Mac 2004. I have never allowed the  program to access to Internet due to the risk of getting some virus.

Is there a way to configure automatically MS Office Mac not to access to the web ?

Thanks for your help.

Guy 

P.S  : i used to have Norton 360 on my former PC. It tooks approximatively 10-15 minutes to launch.... Then I switched to Avast! antivirus. Light and easy going.

 

 

Leopard now has an Application Firewall, which you can tell to block certain apps and let others through. If you add all the apps in Office to the firewall list, and then set it to block incoming connections, Office will be able to sound out messages, but not receive any - rendering it incapable of connecting to the net...

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your help. I have set-up the firewall in a way that Mac Office can't get any incoming connections.

Cheers,

Guy