The IT Nerd

AVG has been around the antivirus game for a very long time. So when they quietly released a Mac focused antivirus product, it got my attention. I just had to try it.

Installation was simple. A few clicks, enter your password, done. It doesn’t get any simpler. Once you install it I recommend that you scan your Mac. It will take a while, but it will make sure that you’re threat free. Now once you know that you’re threat free, AVG Antivirus For Mac will work in the background to make sure you stay threat free. Now if you’re suspicious about something, you can open up AVG Antivirus For Mac from the menu bar and drop the suspect item onto it to get an instant answer as to how safe it is or isn’t. All the controls are simple. Perhaps a bit too simple. There’s not a whole lot of options here other than on and off for the real time scanning and drag and drop scanning. More advanced users may be disappointed, though I will not that it doesn’t make the product any less effective. Another thing to note is that it apparently does updates in the background, but you cannot force it to update on demand. The most that you get in terms of knowing that are up to date is a notification saying that “protection is up to date.” In terms of speed, the first scan is slow. But first scans of your entire computer regardless of antivirus product or platform are always slow. I did note that in everyday use with the real time scanning enabled, I noted that my Mac was a touch faster when compared with having another antivirus application installed. That’s a good thing as an antivirus application that slows down your computer is a #fail. The most important thing is how it protects your computer. Using the European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research (EICAR) test file, I found that AVG Antivirus For Mac instantly blocked it. That’s good as if it will stop the test file instantly, it will stop any other threat that could harm you.

Would I recommend it? Yes I would for users who need a simple but effective antivirus product for their Mac at home. Check out AVG Antivirus For Mac if you need to put an antivirus product on your Mac. Which you should if you want to be safe.

This entry was posted on March 26, 2014 at 8:19 am and is filed under Products with tags AVG. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.