Intel-based Macs: Dearth of compatible virus scanning software

Early adopters of Intel-based Macs (only the Late 2006 iMacs are shipping as of yet) note a lack of compatible virus scanning software that will properly run -- in Rosetta -- on the new architecture.

Though there are no known viruses for Mac OS X, several users opt to scan e-mail and other network transferred documents for viruses in order to prevent infection of Windows users to whom these files may subsequently be transferred.

MacFixIt reader Arne Berglund writes:

"We received our initial iMac Duo Core this morning for platform testing, and ran into a bug right off the bat. We cannot get virus protection software to run on it. We are using Norton AntiVirus 10 on all the Macs in the district, but after installing and updating the package an error appears stating AutoProtect is unavailable. The exact error message is: 'Norton AntiVirus AutoProtect could not continue. Please run LiveUpdate or reinstall Norton AntiVirus and restart. (Code: 10)'

"Neither LiveUpdate nor reinstalling fixes the issue. AutoProtect fails to initialize manually, or at login. I have initiated a ticket with Symantec, but have not heard back yet.

"Similarly, ClamXav will not even start up. After dragging the app to a folder, opening it just starts the icon bouncing endlessly in the dock. Eventually it stops bouncing, but the app never runs, always showing as "not responding" in the Force Quit window."

Intego's VirusBarrier 10.4.3 -- released yesterday -- seems to be the only virus scanning software to boast Universal status thus far.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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