Should I install Norton on my iMac?
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7)
True. However, Norton AV has destroyed a system file, preventing a system from booting until the OS was reinstalled, and has destroyed email. Meanwhile, I have not seen malware, of any type which could affect a Mac, on a Mac under my control. since 1997. I have seen plenty of malware aimed at Windows; I just killed two examples today, both served up in email, one a phish, one from spam. (Hint: if you get an email with a file with a .DOTM extension, that's a Word macro file and is almost certainly a macro virus, especially when the email it's attached to says that it's an invoice from Apple. It's a good idea to show extensions, it really is. In this particular case, a quick run past AV on Windows confirmed that it was malware and I nuked it.) Norton AV will detect Mac malware, but there's so little Mac malware (over 99% of all malware is for Windows, and another 0.4% is for Android) that most people are unlikely to ever see any real Mac malware. I have not seen Mac malware on one of my Macs in 20 years. In that time I have seen Mac malware on other people's Macs, but only a few cases, less than a dozen all told. Meanwhile, it is actively dangerous to run Norton AV: it eats system files and email. It has done more damage to Macs under my control than malware has over the last 20 years.
Go right ahead and use it. I certainly won't be joining you.
I just said what I have and have had for many years and am not advertising Norton. People can choose what they want. I gave my opinion of Norton only for me.
I have already made an opinion about your unabashed shilling on behalf of Norton thank you, I do not need your permission.
Take a chill pill Csound1. I did not promote Norton and permission for what? There are many others out there to choose from and I am happy with NORTON.
How about... what is the problem you have that you think Norton's provides a solution to?
I have had it for years and am satisfied with it
But what does it actually do for you?
To all readers of this thread.
Norton software has a long and illustrious history of not being able to do what it says it can do, breaking your software installation on a Mac is thrown in for good measure. Writing as one who does not receive payment from Norton for promoting it I will advise all of you to not countenance its use, under any circumstances.
Norton what? Norton Antivirus? I don't see much need for it providing you take some common-sense precautions, mostly not downloading things from places you aren't certain are trustworthy, not entering in your administrator password to requests to install something when it's not an application you are deliberately and knowingly installing, and not opening attachments to unexpected emails. But having Norton Antivirus installed probably won't hurt much, though it can be a bit of a drain on performance of your system and may cause complications for installing programs.
Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to install Norton Utilities. I doubt it would even install on Snow Leopard, but don't risk it. Norton Utilities would damage your OS, guaranteed.
Regards.
ELKIMBAO wrote:
Should I install Norton on my iMac?
NO !
it's the next best thing to a virus. steer clear of that junk.
besides, you don't need AV on your Mac.
In a word 'NO!!!!!'
Do a search for Norton on a Mac and you'll discover it will likely give you nothing but grief.
If you feel you need AV software have a look at Sophos: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-ed ition.aspx
or clamXav: http://www.clamxav.com/
both are free and are often recommended on here and won't mess up your Mac.
Gentlemen, the blanket condemnation of Norton Antivirus falls under what I'd consider to be "urban legend". People have over time conflated the problems with Norton Utilities, which were very real, to unfairly tar Norton Antivirus with the same brush. I ran, and supported, Norton Antivirus on a number of Macs and never had a problem, though again I consider it unnecessary.
If you can point to concrete information that shows that Norton Antivirus is indeed chronically problematical (beyond just the normal sort of interference any antivirus can cause), I would welcome seeing it and will publicly state that I'm wrong and that your advice to avoid NAV is well taken. But again, that's not been my experience. We've had far more problems with Sophos or McAfee.
Regards.
Dave Sawyer wrote:
If you can point to concrete information that shows that Norton Antivirus is indeed chronically problematical
Dave,
a bit old i admit but ...
Norton Anti-Virus makes Mac OS X less secure?
Mac OS X anti-virus software: More trouble than it's worth?
i have no first-hand experience since i never installed anything Norton (or Symantec) on my Macs.
Those are indeed quite old, and the two issues raised have long since been addressed. I haven't seen anything since to indicate that there have been chronic problems, and again I worked quite a bit with Norton AV with no issue encountered or reported.
Again, Norton AV is probably unnecessary, but I think the massive negative reactions are mostly a misplacement of memories about Norton Utilities.
Regards.
I've never run it except in the old Performa days (I think it was Norton) and then the system was crashing so frequently anyway, you never could tell what was responsible. I've always accepted what I've heard about Norton being a destroyer of Macs, but somewhere in the back of my mind I always wondered how it could be possible Symantec wouldn't respond by cleaning up its act, at least with the newer releases, since it was getting such a bad rep.
I have heard the enterprise version of Symantic -- not sure what it's called -- is problem free.
I would assume you wont' get a straight answer here, or a straight answer directly from the horse's mouth, but you might want to at least check the Symantec Community.
You can (should) make a backup (bootable clone) of your system if you want to test new software. Then use it just on the clone, or put the backup off line while you try it out.
Reviews tend to be overly positive (don't want to anger the vendor, your relationship) was done with a Preview copy, or on a well maintained system, not yours, while most feedback is from disgruntled people, meaning the person on Amazon etc that had trouble with the install and perhaps other problems.
Security suites can be annoying if nothing else, telling you they are doing XYZ (update, scanning, locking PSWD MGR). All have made strides to be lighter on system resources and not interfere with other operations (downloads, system, other foreground and background tasks).
Sophos, Kaspersky, BitDefender, Intego also have Mac products and offer 30-day fully functional demo. And there is ClamXav.
IT departments can of course mandate the use of AV/Security Suites, even if they are a "Mac shop" and thankfully proactive and ready to limit a problem should it arise (rather than wait for disaster and then deal with it).
Should I install Norton on my iMac?
