Question: what's the best anti virus software for leopard macbook pro laptop?  Should I get a firewall software as well considering leopard has one?  Sorry 2 questions.

Currently there is really no need for anti virus software on the Mac. Yes, it’s true. We are just not a big enough target yet. The windows world is a very different story. However, there are some things we, as mac users, still need to keep in mind.

1. Don’t click on links inside emails that you are unfamilar with. While most phishing scams are there to get you to run an .exe or executable file on your system, Mac don’t run those. But we still need to have common sense. If you get an email from Bank of America saying your account has been compromised or something along those lines, don’t trust that. Type in the url web address yourself then check your account settings.

2. In the windows world, the general rule is also to never open attachments. This is not so much the case on a mac but it’s still not a good idea to forward things blindly to other users because, while macs don’t yet get viruses, malware, or spyware, we can transfer them to other windows users.

3. While Leopard has a built in firewall that does a great job, it can also cause more problems than it solves if turned on. Turning on a firewall blocks traffic accross certain ports on your computer. This means ichat video could stop working, audio within certain programs could cease, iTunes music store could stop working, etc.... The best way to protect yourself from the outside world is to live behind a router. Since your router hands out a different set of IP addresses called a subnetwork, 192.168.1.x for example, that is essentially a firewall in itself. The main IP address given to you by your internet service provider is assumed by your router and that’s as far as it goes.

It’s sort of like this. I may find out your street address and see your house, but if you’re in the basement inside a closet, I can’t see you.