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The First Series On Social Tech Zone

A quick plug to my own blog which is a little odd if you ask me.  Well, you’re actually always plugging something on your blog whenever you write.  Anyway, I digress.  I just wanted to give a brief overview into the first series I’ve written here on Social Tech Zone.  This series is going to be for those of you using a Mac computer.  This series was inspired by one of our readers who asked for help with improving the performance on his Mac.  So, I’m here to offer my suggestions over the next couple of weeks or so on improving your Mac performance.  The series will run until I feel I’ve covered everything necessary or when I notice there’s no more value to provide on the subject.  I will then compile this series into an ebook and release free to all readers of Social Tech Zone.  If you run a Mac, this series and soon to be ebook will be for you.  The ebook will be great because then you won’t have to go searching for each post in the series and will have it all compiled in a PDF at your disposal.

The Common Mistake

There are many Mac users out there who believe that having an antivirus program installed is not necessary.  Let me just begin by saying that this statement couldn’t be more wrong.  I don’t care what type of computer or operating system you run; all machines are vulnerable to viruses.  Granted Macs are not as vulnerable to viruses because there aren’t as many programmers out there writing malicious code to install on Macs.  The Mac operating system system runs off Linux which is a pretty secure and well designed.  However, Macs can still get a virus.  So, what is the best anti virus program for a Mac?

What Program Should I Be Using?

Before I jump right into the program I recommend, I wanted to explain why I’m sharing this information.  As mentioned earlier in the post, I recently was asked by one of our readers to provide tips for improving the performance of their Mac computer.  See, someone out there, and I guarantee he’s not the only one has experience some slowness from a Mac computer.  These are signs that show that Macs can have issues.  So…what program is the best antivirus for a mac that I recommend?  It is iAntivirus and it is free to use.  It has worked perfectly for me and runs silently in the background.  I have the program so it runs immediately on start up and the simplicity of the interface is a huge selling point.  Here are the reasons why this is the best antivirus program for a Mac:

1.  Easy to use interface – One click to scan your computer or update the software definitions.

2.  Scans are thorough but scan your computer in a quick and efficient manner.  It doesn’t take forever like some antivirus programs do. (Windows computers tend to have this issue, but that’s another story.)

3.  The program silently runs in the background with no interference with what you are currently doing at that particular time.

Just a little F.Y.I. – this is a free edition of the program.  You can upgrade to the pro version if you so choose to.  I’ve been using the free version for a while and it has worked just fine for what I need it to do.

What Do The Scan Details Provide You With?

Most antivirus programs show the scan details in a complicated manner to a point that’s too difficult to read.  Not to mention, you can’t actually see scan details most of the time until the scan is complete.  What makes this the best antivirus program for a Mac is that the scan details are showed to you in real time.  You can see the objects scanned, objects clean, and objects infected.  These are three things you absolutely want to know when scanning for potential viruses.  Any other information an antivirus program shows can be information overload to the average user especially if you’re looking at an entire log after the scan completes.  Overall, having these three simple details available during the scan will answer all you need to know about your Mac.  The conclusion of your scan with iAntiVirus, will also show you objects quarantined as well as objects that failed to quarantine.  What’s great about this is you can see any potential threats that may have existed on your Mac and whether or not the issue was “removed.”

Should I Invest In A Pro Version Of A Mac Antivirus Program?

Honestly, if you are using a Mac, I am going to say no to this question.  If you’re running a Windows computer, I would say it couldn’t hurt.  Windows computers are going to be more vulnerable as mentioned earlier so there are situations that those users will need a pro version of an antivirus program.  Although, as a Mac user you will be fine with the free standard version.  Don’t let me stop if you though if you would like to use a pro version for your Mac because pro versions do have more features and so of which can be extremely useful.

Takeaways For Part 1 Of Series

This will wrap up all the key points for part one of this series for improving the performance of your Mac, but I would like to rehash a few takeaways so that you are sure to implements these points.

First, always make sure your Mac has an antivirus program running.  Don’t think for a second that your Mac is immune to viruses.  Be sure to use iAntiVirus as this is what I believe is the best antivirus program for a Mac.

Second, make sure to run a scan of your computer once a week.  This is usually the recommended amount of times that your system should be checked.  Also, understand that you don’t need to use a pro version of an antivirus program.  They do have more features, but that doesn’t necessarily make them better.  For those running Macs, a free version will work fine.

Third, and most important…be sure that your antivirus program is up to date.  You’ll want to make sure the definitions of the application are the latest so that you don’t run into any problems.  The last thing you want is your antivirus program to be the cause of an issue with your machine.

So, what antivirus program for your Mac do you use?  Do you use the one I shared or do you think there’s one that is better?  If you are a Mac user, share with us any experiences you may have had that affected your computer performance and what you did to correct it.

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