101 Reasons to Switch to the Mac

83. Virus Protection

As of September 2006, macvirus.org's Mac virus database has 26 entries. Most of these are rated "low risk" to home users and corporations; some are no longer in circulation.

By contrast, in the same month, symantec.com's PC virus database listed 72,846 entries. (Now there's a reason to switch!)

Even though your risk of infection, damage, and data loss is greatly reduced on a Mac, it's still a good idea to install virus protectionespecially because one of the most trusted Mac virus scanners is free!

Open-source ClamXav (www.markallan.co.uk, free) can be set to scan automatically for infected files. Brand-name shoppers can always pay for Norton AntiVirus for the Mac (www.symantec.com, $49.95), which, like its counterpart on the PC, automatically updates protection, scans files, and monitors systems for unusual activity.