First thoughts on iAntivirus

[zbob]

Hi,

I recently installed iAntivirus and i have to admit that i didn't expect much of it. The previous antivirus software i had installed disappointed me and i was reluctant to trying this out. But after installing it i was impressed. Low on resources, effective and very simple. The thing i liked most was that it didn't install 500.000 pieces of on the hard-drive, this being one of the things i hate about many programs (they install a lot of crap everywhere and it's difficult to uninstall if anything goes wrong).

Now for the criticism part... :D The thing i don't like about it is that it doesn't run as a background process, it runs like any other app, which can be annoying because i don't want to see an antivirus bouncing in the dock during startup, in fact i don't want to see an antivirus anywhere on my screen, except a small icon in the menubar/system tray from which i can control it. It would be great if you could make it a background process with the existing menu entry in the menubar but without the dock icon.

Second of all i didn't understand something... Is this really free? I mean are updates free? Or do they stop once a free evaluation period stops. I see there's the option to buy it, but i want to know what are the advantages of buying the software.

Thank you and hope you take the time and clarify things for me.

[Macwar]

Yes, all you said is true and I feel exactly the same way.

The most annoying thing right now is that there is no way whatsoever to remove that icon from the dock while antivirus is running. I do not want to see it down there. Antiviruses and viruses are something we did not choose to have, it is something that becomes a must have (antiviruses of course). So there is no need to show them sitting and bouncing in the dock. Small unobtrusive menubar icon (mono-color, black like all others) would be more than enough.

Developers, can we get some input on this please ?

Also, I haven't noticed any virus definitions updates recently. Is that because we don't see so many treats for OS X as we can see for Windows, or is it because we use free version ? I truly hope free version allows us to get updates and we do not have to buy paid for version just to be able to get updates installed.

Thanks in advance for your input!

[AChen]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feedback on the iAV. The reason why the icon is displayed in the dock is because at this stage it is used to notify users of certain actions. Example, when a scan is completed it will jump up and down to notify that the scan has finished. It will also display the number of threats detected with the icon etc. In time, we will find other ways to notify users or have an option to remove this from the dock.

The differences between the paid to the free version include:

High-speed updates
Dedicated 24/7 support
Phone support

The iAntiVirus will have regular updates, free and paid version :)

[jay]

After searching the internet for an antivirus that works on a mac without any hassle I finally found an article on iAV on an Australian web site SMH.

This FREE antivirus is extremely easy to install with no clutter and no slow down of you mac. I like programs to be hassle free and cause me no grief and this is what I found with iAV.

The icon that sits in the tray area/desktop does not look out of place and while the program is free I would never complain about an icon that cannot be removed. If I had to pay for the product then I might expect the choice to remove it.

iAntivirus couldnt be any easy to work with and I seriously think everyone who owns a mac should give it a try.

To the developers of iAntivirus thanks. Just dont bloat it up with unnecessary crap and just keep it as simple and effective as you have already.

[Macwar]

After searching the internet for an antivirus that works on a mac without any hassle I finally found an article on iAV on an Australian web site SMH.

This FREE antivirus is extremely easy to install with no clutter and no slow down of you mac. I like programs to be hassle free and cause me no grief and this is what I found with iAV.

The icon that sits in the tray area/desktop does not look out of place and while the program is free I would never complain about an icon that cannot be removed. If I had to pay for the product then I might expect the choice to remove it.

iAntivirus couldnt be any easy to work with and I seriously think everyone who owns a mac should give it a try.

To the developers of iAntivirus thanks. Just dont bloat it up with unnecessary crap and just keep it as simple and effective as you have already.

No one was complaining, these are just constructive comments. And the fact that this antivirus is free is not an excuse. There is a wonderful avast! antivirus for PC, one of the best out there if not the best and it has free version. Yet, developers listen to the users of avast! Home edition (completely free of charge) and they keep changing things taking almost everything they suggest (of course if it's reasonable enough) into the consideration.

Besides, this is free antivirus, but you should have noticed by now that there is a paid for version and actually, this free one can be easily turned into licensed one if you are ready to spend some money. So, I did it and I own licensed version, actually two (one for my home computer and another one for work computer). Am I allowed now to suggest good changes (not complaints like you mentioned) ?

Again, being free does not mean you can do whatever you want. Sooner or later people will get annoyed, and antivirus software competition will be huge (just wait until Mac becomes a target for virus makers, the question is not IF, but WHEN). People will jump from one they don't like to another they like better.

So, constructive comments are always welcome. I am sure developers will totally agree here.

[dds]

I agree with the original poster. Id like to see an option for iAntiVirus to run as a discreet service/process/daemon, rather than having to be an active GUI app.

I don't mind running a flull-blown GUI app for a manual scan or a reactive procedure, but for proactive real-time protection, It would be better to have a process running in the background (assuming it plays nice and doesn't consume too many CPU, disk and memory resources in terms of scheduling, scanning etc (of course this is a common challenge that all AV software developers have been wrestling with since the dawn of time).

My biggest concern with having a 3rd-party process running, is that sometimes they can be hard to troubleshoot, and they can potentially cause problems (especially if they run with root privileges as most AV software does. I ocasionally see Microsts daemons causing logout/shutdown problems on OS X, and Im cautious about adding other daemons into the mix. But hey, I have to be realistic. They eventually WILL be viri targeted to the Mac platform, and thus I may have no option but to run AV software on all my Macs in the future (it wont be a luxury anymore). This is a great time for PC Tools to step up.

[BeaMeUp]

Wow, 6200+ views and only 5 replies??? I'd say it was a popular thread! :D

I like the idea behind this software and it's interface is straightforward and easy to use. Thanks to PCTools for trying to get it right for Mac users.

And I agree, every Mac user should have a look and give some feedback. Hey, it's free to use.

[NSArchitect]

Thanks for your comments and glad that you like iAntiVirus!

FYI (and anyone else reading this): one of the enhancements in the next build - which is currently in internal beta - is the ability to enable/disable the dock icon. The dock icon is now disabled by default, but if the user would like to turn it on and scan files/folders by dragging them to the dock they may do so!

[BeaMeUp]

Thanks. Hey, that Dock Icon is kind of like a "denial thing".
When I installed the update, it removed the dock icon, and I see that's by default.

To the users:
Would it be better if the dock icon was installed, then those of us who choose, could remove it?

Options are a good thing. :D

Update: Never mind me. i found the checkbox to "Do Not Show the dock icon"

[NSArchitect]

The option of dropping files/folders onto the dock icon for scanning has been on the iAntiVirus roadmap for a while, but we've had people requesting removal of the dock icon! I guess this way by making the dock icon optional we can please people on both sides of the argument :)