DR. GIRLFRIEND  I think 26CAB40's review on August 18 says it all. If you value your computer (and your sanity), keep Norton's crapware off your Mac at all costs.

Try VirusTotal instead; it runs multiple antivirus engines in one shot. Read about it here:

http://www.virustotal.com/about.html

They even have a Firefox addon that lets you download files directly with VirusTotal's web application before storing them on your system. It even scans URLs.  
(Version 08/31/2010)

STUDIODAVE56  Still listing this as free when it is a subscription based program. With your purchase of the program it includes a 1 year subscription to these updates after that you must continue to pay for yearly subscriptions in order to use the updates. This is not free. There is nothing you can do with this without paying for the program.  
(Version 08/23/2010)

26CAB40  I tried the latest iteration of Norton on a few known problematic files.

Small PC files loaded with Trojans/exploits etc.

I normally use a dedicated PC with NOD32 to run all files through, especially those that might be passed to friends or colleagues.

I also use Bitdefender Online for second pass and finally ClamXAV just to be complete.

In a VMWare sandbox I have 10 files, all infected, that I keep as a test set, the oldest Trojan variant in there is 4 YEARS OLD !!!

The most recent was sent to me last week.

NOD32 picks up 9 out of ten but warns about the remaining file.

Bitdefender Online picks up 8 out of the ten.

Clam XAV also picks up 8 (surprising us all).

Norton picks up 1.

The 4 year old exploit.

Norton also shows the highest CPU drain and consumes twice the memory of Bitdefender Online.

In Bitdefenders defense it's already running in a rather bloated browser.

It's awful, bloated, slow and has a bigger imprint than Sasquatch.

Avoid this at all costs.  
(Version 08/18/2010)

NEGRITUDE  I use both ClamXav and Norton AntiVirus 11 for manual scanning under Leopard. I got NAV for free from my cable internet provider (it was part of Norton Internet Security 4).

One thing I notice is that ClamXav seems to detect email viruses that NAV completely misses. Can someone clarify whether the signatures in NAV for Mac are OS X specific, and do not include Windows viruses? Do you need to purchase the "dual protection" version of NAV in order to get Windows virus signatures included in your scanning?

Is it possible that ClamXav is giving me false positives, or have a missed a configuration setting for NAV?  
(Version 06/04/2010)

AARGL  Well... someday, some virus might destroy your Mac... ;-D

When OSX appeared, there was that threat that with the expansion of Apple's market some nasty pirate would begin to make viruses and it would end just as it is for pc users... and it was nearly 10 years ago, now.

So, it would be stupid to say "there will never be viruses on Mac!", but until now I've never got one and never heard of anyone getting one.

The main risk might be running pc apps on your Mac, but except for that, the risk is so tiny that I continue sleeping without any antivirus, and I'm sleeping well... ;-)

(to me, the most terrible viruses in Macs are all those damned pc parts they put in since old powerpc days, beginning with IDE instead of SCSI, that made Macs cheaper but weaker :-(  
(Version 06/04/2010)

DER~BOT~HAUS  145MB?  
(Version 05/11/2010)

EFF  Simply because you've never encountered one, doesn't mean they didn't exist. I caught one back in days of my trusty ole' SE30 while installing a game from a floppy I had purchased at a local book store. Luckily, it was a variant of Code 252 which just displayed a creepy message and then deleted itself.

And if you don't believe the page I linked to above, take it from the horse's mouth:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=50569

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30345 (under "MBDF virus and Mac OS 8")

So yes, you are correct in that there are currently no viruses for any version of OS X, and with very few exceptions OS X users don't need to be concerned about the issue (I don't have AV software installed on any of Macs, btw), aside from exercising common sense when surfing/downloading files.

But that does not mean that a) there never were any viruses on the Mac platform in the past, and b) there may not be poo-ware attacking OS X in the future.

All that being said, I think we can agree on two points: Norton AV, in its current state, is a POS, and the AV developer's money-grabbing schemes are ridiculous.  
(Version 9/24/09)

ILGAZ  If this release included "signature updates for the unpatched java security hole on pre OS X 10.5 systems" as release note, I would run to Symantec store and buy it.

Of course, they are so busy with including Windows virus signatures and proof of concept junk rather than real threats, backdoors.

I don't want to spam this site so consider this comment for every single AV running under OS X, even including "free" ones. If you aren't protecting against an active threat, you don't deserve a single CPU cycle.  
(Version 9/4/09)

CYBORG9  Norton antivirus? The mere mention of that name should give any self respecting Mac user a case of spontaneous, explosive diarrhea.

Truthfully, as has oft been said, there just ain't no active virus threat out there in the wild for Macs at the moment.

One of these days, there likely will be.

So, it might be wise to have some anti virus protection at one's disposal. There is, though,

no reason to pay through the nose for some virus protection such as the dreaded and sickening Norton or the quite overpriced Intego VirusBarrier (they've got a $30 yearly fee for virus definition updates after one's first year of Virusbarrier use).

There's the highly regarded and free ClamX.   
(Version 9/1/09)

FRANKHOGG  I've been using Macs since 1984 and I don't use any "AntiVirus" software, free or paid for simply because THERE ARE NO VIRUSES FOR A MAC! Never have been. I've never had a problem... NEVER!

Do you know why there are two lion statues in front of the NY Public Library? The answer is they keep the elephants away. Hey it works just as well as any anti virus software for the Mac does.  
(Version 8/18/09)