Apple dropping support for Virex as part of .Mac

It appears that Apple will not provide support for the newly released Virex 7.6, after years of offering the virus protection software as a benefit of .Mac membership.

In addition, download links to Virex 7.5.1 have been removed from the .mac website, likewise Virex 7.5.1 no longer shows in your iDisk software folder.

MacFixIt reader Steve Prindle writes:

"According to Apple tech support, Virex compatibility issues with OS 10.4 motivated this turn of events.

"On the MacAfee website, Virex 7.6 is available for $201.05 plus $81.00 for an additional year of support. This is for five seats, the minimum quantity you can buy.

"A .Mac search on Virex yields this information:

"Updating Virex

"If you're using Mac OS X version 10.3 or earlier and were a .Mac member who downloaded the Virex application before May 2005, you can continue to receive updates to virus definitions through May 2006. To receive automatic updates, make sure you're using Virex 7.2 or later and that your Internet preferences are set to access .Mac. "

Over the past several months we've covered a number of serious issues with Virex 7.x under Mac OS X 10.3.x and Mac OS X 10.4.x including system slow-down and instability, conflicts with fax functionality, problems with other Apple-supplied applications, and more.

For instructions on removing Virex for your system, see this report.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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