GLUDSTER  I am surprised that some people are having a hard time with this software, as I have been running it for a few months with no problems at all. It is mostly invisible, running scans when I connect another volume or boot my mac in the morning.

Other Virus protection software I have used has been so bad I abandoned using it, but this one behaves very well and does exactly what it's told. If it starts a scheduled scan and I want to use all the CPU power for another task, I simply close the progress bar window and I get no argument. Other software I have used will not allow me to interrupt or postpone a scan, it will lock up my machine instead, not this one, it does what I say!

I am running it on a mid 07 2.4 MacBook Pro, which has heaps of grunt, so maybe the moaners are using older, less capable hardware.

To the uninformed, be informed, welcome to the real world where millions of Mac-Haters can't wait to shoot the Mac OS down in flames. A recent scan of a friends disabled computer revealed 12 malicious items with root access including, 'OSX/RSPlug.B10!s1', 'OSX/RSPlug.A9!s1', 'OSX/RSPlug.gen7!s1', W32/FraudLoad.vaoa, et-cetera.

I COULD HARDLY BE HAPPIER WITH THIS PRODUCT, THANKS, INTEGO.  
(Version 10.5.8)

PLANET  VirusBarrier bundled with a Mac Mini 1.83 Intel MacOS 10.56 by German vendor GRAVIS caused serious trouble on the machine of my girlfriend. First the installer freezed. I killed the process after half an hour and restarted. In the disk utility I suddenly had two volumes, but there is only one build in. Looks like a rootkit - it puts the MacOS into a virtual machine, so you are unable to search he term "Intego" with spotlight or finder to remove it correctly -but it is definitely installed and you can see it in the activity monitor or in the terminal using the "top" command. The uninstaller from Integos website dind't find the software components hidden in the system. After searching in the internet I found a hint regarding Intego Icalserver. After killing its process and moving the it to the thrash I restarted. There was no process running, but the external firewire drive for the timemachine update was dead.

I think no virus can cause more trouble than this "protection" software, so beware of that crap.

PS. and OT: under Mac OS 9 they had a software called Netbarrier. It changed the folder "system" in the systemfolder, so Techtool Lite couldn't verify the system anymore.  
(Version 10.5.8)

CYBORG9  First, pay $70 for Virusbarrier, then after using it for a year pay $30 per year for virus definition updates? No way in hell will I do that regardless of how good it may be.

Make it a lot more reasonably priced and we'll talk, but not before then.

And there's no real Mac virus threat out there currently.  
(Version 10.5.8)

TOM46  This thing is a god-awful memory hog. Thank goodness it comes with an uninstaller!  
(Version 10.5.6)

JOEYDPOGI  I installed this softwear and although it is doing what it supposed to do which is scan your computer for virus, this softwear crash my system when i tried to uninstall it. i successfully uninstall the program but it somehow attached itself to the system and screw it! my MAC is set for a daily softwear update and after i uninstall this program i cannot update my softwear and giving me the error that i cannot use the softwear update and i need to contact the developer of this program! it also created few issues on my HD and when i tried to fix it using disk utility, it cannot be fix. so i need to re-install my OS X to delete all unnecessary program that was left after i uninstall this softwear. so be caution when you try to install this softwear!  
(Version 10.5.6)

ANDRé SIGOUIN  I have been using the Intego products since they began years ago with their version 1 of NetBarrier and VirusBarrier. Overall, they have created products that have been reliable and easy to use. When I have had problems, Intego has been there to appreciate my comments, improving their software and answer my questions.

Yes, they do charge for a yearly subscription for their definition updates but, they are on the ball, especially in the last few years. Once in a while, you can get a special deal for a two year subscription at a reduced price. Keep an eye out for this.

The initial hard drive repair mode for viruses can hog the CPU, especially on an older, slower machine. Once scanned, the CPU processing is returned. Use the scan mode with automatic repair if you don't want to have the slowdown as it uses far less CPU. You can always let the repair mode function on your drive overnight while you don't use the machine.

For me, on a downside, the X5 version has an ugly display compared to the previous versions. This is an entirely cosmetic item to complain about, but as we run the application on a Mac platform, I wish that Intego would have given better thought on that one.

Overall, Intego products give a much needed peace of mind as the day may just come that we do have to deal with quite malicious attacks. Better safe than sorry has become my motto after over twenty years of computing. Having this software protect my computers on my home network gives me that extra peace of mind.

As a final comment, Intego products have been adopted by many large organizations to secure their machines. Their reputation is spreading.  
(Version 10.5.5)

PLUT0  Maybe there are few virus threats to the Mac right now but the thing that the community needs to realize is that they will come. When that time arrives, we need to have developers who are responsive to the community and have grown along with OS 10. I probably will not use the current Virus Barrier that I have bought in the MacUpdate package, but I do believe that I should be helping to support efforts like this for the future. I think all of us really need to look at the applications that we use and give some longer-term direction to the developers as to what works and what doesn't.

Personally, for a virus detector, I would like to see a fast, small-footprint bloodhound that receives network updates whenever there is spare bandwidth and digs around in my files looking for decay and danger. Perhaps it could also be indexing stuff, to be handed off to the operating system.   
(Version 10.5.5)

ROBOTANK  Would I pay $70 for this? Probably not, but that's not a reflection of its quality, only the necessity (or lack thereof) of Macintosh AV software in general. Since getting this app with the latest MacUpdate bundle I've been very impressed with it. The realtime scanner is completely unobtrusive: it uses no noticeable amount of CPU or RAM and doesn't slow down operation. I haven't picked up any viruses for it to detect, but the professional reviews all agree that its detection rules are thorough and up to date. As always in this tired debate, the question comes down to whether or not you need _any_ AV software on your Mac. You probably don't, but if you think you do, VB X5 is certainly worth a look.  
(Version 10.5.5)

HELIOS9  Be aware that after using Virusbarrier for the first year, it you want to continue getting new-virus updates after that you'll have to shell out about $30 yearly for them. Is Virusbarrier really worth the price?  
(Version 10.5.5)

THE SWEEG  I had a number of PC viruses that it found and got rid of. I'm pretty happy with it.  
(Version 10.5.5)