Updates, spyware, and virus protection..Oh My!

[cfs]

Just purchased an imac and am new to macs. On my old pc I ran Kapersky firewall (freeware), Avast Home Anti-Virus (freeware), Ad-Aware (freware), and SpyBot (Freware) to keep my pc running without malware, trojans, etc.

What should I do for a mac?

Also, after one week out of the box, I have not updated any software as of yet. I am still running 10.5 and there are a bunch of other updates as well.

My computer is running smooth at the moment and I am afraid to uddate. At times, I updated with Microsoft and it caused my computer to act up. How do I know what I should update and what i should not?

Thanks,
cfs

 

[bartelby]

Nice Wizard of Oz reference.

OS X's own firewall is good enough and there's currently no need for anti-malware stuff.


Updates are easy. Software Update handles the OS/Apple stuff and apps look after themselves.

 

[dukeblue91]

Nice Wizard of Oz reference.

OS X's own firewall is good enough and there's currently no need for anti-malware stuff.


Updates are easy. Software Update handles the OS/Apple stuff and apps look after themselves.

What he said.
The updates are very save and won't mess up your system.

 

[edesignuk]

My computer is running smooth at the moment and I am afraid to uddate. At times, I updated with Microsoft and it caused my computer to act up. How do I know what I should update and what i should not?

Thanks,
cfs

Do you have a means of backup? If so make a backup before installing updates, most of the time they're fine, but it's by no means unheard of for people to have issues after installing them. Always better to be safe than sorry.

If you don't have a backup, you should! I'd recommend an external drive and SuperDuper!

 

[tuxtpenguin]

I agree with the backup comment above. SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner work great, or just make a Time Machine backup.

 

[czachorski]

The backup advice is sound, but I have done every update since 10.2.2, never backed anything up and never had a problem in 5 years on 3 machines.

 

[jerry1]

What about Spyware? I've wondered about that recently since I'm fairly new to the Mac world.

 

[bartelby]

What about Spyware? I've wondered about that recently since I'm fairly new to the Mac world.

As far as I can tell there aren't any out there "in the wild".

 

[AppleFan360]

Your really need to shed the Microsoft way of thinking. The Mac OS is different and much more efficient.

I would suggest doing the update and not worrying about loading all of those apps. Just sit back and enjoy your iMac.

 

[iHerzeleid]

Basically, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Your really need to shed the Microsoft way of thinking. The Mac OS is different and much more efficient.

Agreed. It will take time but there is hope for you new Mac converts. There is NO spyware on Macs. There are NO viruses on Macs. And updating software is like Christmas IMO, because it's so easy and 95% of the time makes everything even better!

Dive in and don't look back!

 

[harcosparky]

Your really need to shed the Microsoft way of thinking. The Mac OS is different and much more efficient.

I would suggest doing the update and not worrying about loading all of those apps. Just sit back and enjoy your iMac.

I agree with this.

We even did an OS Upgrade from Tiger to Leopard on a G5 Mac.

That was something I would never do on Windows. With Windows we had to back up everything, and basically do a Reformat/Install of the new OS.

When I put the Leopard disk in and opted to UPGRADE I held my breath, but it went smoothly without a hitch.

Do all the updates ( it will take a little time ), but it is worth doing.

 

[jerry1]

Thanks everyone! I've only been Mac'n it for about 2.5 months. I knew there were not viruses but wasn't sure about spyware...until now!

 

[brop52]

There are a few trojans though and some viruses for mostly office that can infect windows computers. Mostly, just use common sense and don't type in your admin info on some random program you download that you don't know what it is. Any trojan will require your admin rights for it to run and install.