As a fairly new Mac user, not much of a techie, not of the computer generation, this is my personal Sophos experience after a week of usage. There are 2 pdf manuals on the Sophos website (the install manual + the user manual) you can get which explains all aspects of the software, made the whole process easier for me. The install was easy, then Sophos asks to scan my complete drive (no infected files) as well as get from their server the entire virus database with more than 2 million viruses, trojans, worms. Then the "on-access" scanning kicks in with continual protection. Sophos seems to work with very little system slowdown, except my iMacG4/800 takes an extra 30 sec. to boot up + some slowdown when Sophos automatically updates the virus definitions (not even a listing in Sys Prefs, Accounts, Startup items). The manual suggests running Sophos in the default mode. It is, however, highly configurable in the 5 Preference tabs, but they are extra careful requiring the user to unlock the lock in the bottom left corner before you can make any changes. The scan of my drive took 90 min. for 181,000 files/folders, a small inconvenience, once, to assure that my drive is clean (will probably not have to scan again with on-access running continuously). You can also configure selective scans if you want to continually monitor specific files/folders. The Sophos icon in the menu bar is black when the on-access scanning is fully functional, the icon becomes animated when Sophos is accessing its server to update the virus definitions (once per hour default). Putting your mouse cursor over the icon explains what is going on. Sophos also has right click functionally for scanning a particular file/folder. Sophos checks both Mac/Win threats. The only support for Sophos Mac Free is their website forum, which is always active with much discussion. I am happy that Sophos includes us Tiger PPC types, not many even paid AV software do. As a former PC user, I am used to this type of free AV software (Avast Free), continually running in the BG, just makes me feel safer, keeps me "in front of the curve" when, eventually, some forms of Malware will try to infiltrate Macs. Also, Sophos, with 20 years experience in the enterprise/commercial space seems to be a reputable company with international resources, so I will happily continue to use Sophos AV Free, again, JUST MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE!!. EACH TO HIS OWN. I will report if Sophos becomes problematic. Ken.
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