Does my MacBook come with an anti-virus?

No it doesn't. There are very few viruses for Mac.
The chances of getting one are very slim.

you don't need it....

troy

No, Macs do not come with any anti-virus software pre-intstalled. There is much debate over whether anti-virus software is needed. One camp believes it is a waste of resources and money because there are no known viruses or malware currently out there actively infecting Macs (regardless of what security "researchers" say). The other camp believes it is better to be safe than sorry. You'll have to do some research of your own and decide. There are several commercial anti-virus packages available such as Norton, McAfee, Intego. There is also a pretty good free package called ClamXav which many people use.

Good luck and do some research about the threats, or lack there of, out there for Mac OS X.

Dual 2.5GHz G5 Power Macintosh Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1.5GB RAM 20" Apple Cinema Display

Can't play CD-ROM Games???

lkrupp wasn't quite correct. There are Macs that ship with integrated antivirus: OS X Server comes with clamav antivirus. Incidentally, clamav is the antivirus engine that runs clamXav, the free antivirus lkrupp suggested.

In addition, Apple recommends using antivirus (number 6) on your Mac.

-Wayne

There are Macs that ship with integrated antivirus: OS X Server comes with clamav antivirus.

However, the engine that's included with OS X Server only scans incoming e-mails for viruses. It's part of the Mail services. It's not there to protect the computer itself. 🙂

-Doug

"lkrupp wasn't quite correct. There are Macs that ship with integrated antivirus: OS X Server comes with clamav antivirus."

...and we all so easily confuse iMacs and MacBooks with Xserves.

There are nits worth picking, but this really isn't one of them. OP is obviously asking about his MB, not a server.

Doug,

Again, not quite: clamav scans only what, where, and when you set it to scan, which means it "protects" - and this would not be my choice of verb, by the way - exactly what you set it to, uh, protect.

-Wayne

Eric,

Let's pretend for a minute that 'Macs do not come with any anti-virus
software pre-intstalled.' isn't an incorrect, blanket statement that
ignores Apple's own recommendation with respect to using antivirus on
Macs.

Enough people post to these forums who use OS X Server on minis and
MacBooks (including, if memory serves, one poster in China using a MacBook
as an RSS server!) that it is salient.

-Wayne

Wayne, the original question was, "Does the MacBook come with an anti-virus already installed?" The answer is, "No." A correct answer.

The follow up was from lkrupp was, "No, Macs do not come with any anti-virus software pre-intstalled." Again, a correct answer.

Your point of minis and MacBooks running OS X Server is valid, but neither of those ship with OS X Server installed and as Doug mentions, the AV sofware is for scanning emails only.

The question was not, "Should I run AV software?" The question was whether his Mac came with it. I would think that a person such as yourself who is such a sticker for the sematic details would not have missed that.

The question was answered - completely and correctly - and marked as such. Yet again you felt compelled to add your unnecessary - and in this case, completely incorrect - two cents.

Eric,

You are right, in that the OP did not ask whether to run antivirus. Let's focus on what the OP actually asked:

"If not then what would be a good one to get oneline?"

Strangely enough, buried among the astroturf planted by the surf naked cultists, only one poster gave a direct link to suitable antivirus obtainable online. Only one poster referred to Apple's recommendation to use antivirus.

You know very well that lkrupp's assertion was incorrect, and, given Apple's recommendation to use antivirus, that Doug's assertion was incomplete at best.

If you have facts to dispute my arguments, please bring them out so we can examine them together. If you can't produce facts to back your assertion (and you haven't), you're bearing false witness when you call my posts " completely incorrect." Principled (note the word) discourse demands that you acknowledge when the "other camp" has a valid point.

-Wayne

Well, handbags indeed.

The MacBook doesn't come with an antivirus package. I do not believe that I need one either.

I had a really nicely annotated and well thought out response to you Wayne, but you would ignore it and dismiss anything anyone has to say that opposes you as evidenced in this thread, so I decided against wasting my time.

If you had a point for me to agree with, I would have done so. You and I have gone around about this before and you refuse to listen to anything I - or anyone else - has to say on this topic.