Mcafee vs. Norton for Mac

Macs are often considered as being completely resilient against virus and malware attacks. While there are certainly fewer numbers of reported viruses on the Apple Mac OS X system, it's more of a numbers game than anything else. PCs and Windows run the world and, therefore, most Trojans target those systems to cause the most damage. As the Mac platform gains popularity, though, so will the reported number of viruses. When it comes to antivirus software, it is certainly better to be safe than sorry.

Cost

Norton Antivirus runs roughly $50 USD for a single user, and McAfee runs about $37 per license. Additional licenses for McAfee can be purchased in bulk at a discounted rate.

Enterprise

McAfee offers a better experience for the corporate environment, enabling administrators to access virus reports and administer policies to the system. The virus solution is able to download the latest virus definitions via the McAfee central database or pulled down through a private internal server. Norton antivirus is a decent enterprise experience, but McAfee clearly wins due to its ease of use and application.

Antivirus

Norton Antivirus markets itself as the number one selling antivirus solution for the Mac OS X platform, but best selling doesn't always mean best protection. As it turns out, Norton doesn't do all that great of a job protecting the Mac from Mac-specific threats. Norton focuses mainly on protecting Mac systems from Windows malware and viruses, detecting them as they pass through the system and catching them before they make their way out to another system, ultimately more of a protection of the connected network than the actual Mac system. McAfee, on the other hand, targets not only Windows threats but Mac and Unix threats as well. Both offer real-time protection and scheduled system scans, but McAfee's total protection is a better option for the OS X user.

Use

Norton seems to be better suited for an environment of mainly PC owners and Windows users; while providing the Mac user a decent amount of protection, it appears to be more focused on reducing the spread of Windows threats. This aspect makes Norton better used as protection for a college campus where there is a large, mixed grouping of computers heavily active on a singular network.

OS-Specific Application

When pitted against each other, McAfee seems to be a better solution, not only for the home user but also for the enterprise. Yet there are still better options suited explicitly for the Mac OS X environment, focusing their efforts on viruses, Trojans and malware exploits targeted at the specified platform. These applications not only provide a better user interface experience, but provide the protection against the very few threats made against Apple without the worry or headache of the threats of a Windows machine.

References

• Mac Users Should Get Antivirus