The app, available for both iOS and Mac, offers a range of advanced productivity tools including email tracking, send later and read later, all from a tidy interface. Some clients are Mac specific though and you will need to find the best Windows alternative of your Mac email client. We decided to put together a list of our favorite Windows alternatives to OS X email clients. Discuss email privately. Invite teammates to discuss specific email and threads. Ask questions, get answers, and keep everyone in the loop. The new Spark feels like the first product that may finally solve email communication and assignments for the MacStories team. Microsoft Outlook isn't the only email client on the block. Check out our top picks for the best desktop email clients available for Windows and Mac OS X.
Macs may be a far less tempting target for malware and viruses, but they’re not immune from attack. Even if you don’t care about adware or being used as a means to infect users on other platforms, it’s still possible to fall victim to ransomware, password theft, or stolen iPhone backups.
Accordingly, good antivirus software will protect your Mac on all of these fronts. It’ll catch malware that’s still spreading or in circulation; block ransomware; protect older systems with out-of-date software from security vulnerabilities; prevent your Mac from acting as a carrier for malware aimed at other operating systems; and keep infected files off of any virtual machines you’re running.
Antivirus for Mac cheat sheet
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- Best paid antivirus for Mac:Sophos Home Premium for Mac[sophos.com]
- Best free antivirus for Mac:Avast Free Mac Security[avast.com]
Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. Our top contenders dominate by posting perfect (or virtually near perfect) scores from security research labs, passing our own malware detection tests with flying colors, offering well-designed interfaces, and even throwing in extra features like a firewall or password manager.
Updated 08/15/19: Added our review of Avira Free Antivirus, a worthy free option that’s easy to use and effective.
Looking for Windows antivirus recommendations? You can read about the best antivirus suites for PC on our sister site, PCWorld.
Best overall antivirus software
on Sophos
Sophos Home Premium has the most extensive and up-to-date approach to fighting malware at an unbeatable price.
Sophos Home Premium has it all: Effective malware protection, ransomware monitoring, protection against potentially-unwanted-apps, and additional features that often require separately licensed software. Its cloud-based configuration and generous licensing (up to 10 Macs and PCs) also make it easy to shield friends and family from threats, no matter where they live. (Full details available in our review.)
Best free antivirus software
Though Sophos does offer a good free version of its software, Avast Free Mac Security edges it out as the best free antivirus software for macOS. In security lab tests, Avast detected 99.9 percent of macOS malware, and 100 percent of Windows malware. However, if you want more advanced protection (like ransomware detection), you’ll need to upgrade to paid software.
What to look for in antivirus software
By our reckoning, antivirus software should be able to neutralize a threat before it can begin wreaking havoc. That means preventing the download, installation, or execution of malicious software.
Since you can encounter threats by visiting compromised or malicious websites, receiving virus-laden attachments, or accessing USB drives with malware, good AV software should scan on a continuous basis unless you configure it otherwise. And ideally, files identified as malicious should be quarantined into a special storage area managed by the AV software, with the option to automatically delete files known to be malware or repair normal documents that also carry devious payloads.
Great AV suites also will monitor the filesystem for certain kinds of changes. Ransomware—which is malware that will rapidly encrypt user files like documents and mailboxes and then delete the originals—has become a huge moneymaker on other platforms. As a prime opportunity for attackers, it’s the greatest danger Mac users likely face as a category.
Detecting this pattern and halting it before any files are unavailable should be possible without an anti-malware system knowing the specific innards of a ransomware virus. Sophos, our top pick, includes this feature in the Home Premium version of its 2018 update. Other vendors, like Avast and Trend Micro Antivirus, offer an alternative feature that allows you to whitelist programs allowed to manipulate files in specific directories. So if this particular type of attack becomes rapidly popular, you’ll be protected.
Good antivirus software should also use minimal computational resources. https://energyarc431.weebly.com/best-saas-crm-systems-for-mac.html. That’s especially the case these days—AV monitoring hasn’t become much more complicated than when it first became available, and faster, multi-core CPUs can easily handle the demands of running AV software in the background without disturbing your active work.
Beyond these primary features, an easy-to-navigate interface and extra features are worth factoring into your decision. Some AV software are full-fledged suites that offer additional options like backup service for essential files, a password manager, parental controls, anti-tracking and privacy modes or options, a more advanced firewall, and the blocking of Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs).
How we test
Each software package is evaluated creating a clean installation of macOS Mojave, cloning it for each AV product, and then booting separately into each one to install a different package. This was to ensure that previous app installations didn’t interfere with new ones—sometimes AV software treats other AV software as an infection.
In addition to visiting malicious websites, downloading known malicious software, and even running said malware, we also reference the most recent reports from two labs that regularly cover macOS malware: AV Comparatives and AV-TEST. These laboratories test AV software against sets of known malware as well as products that are grouped as potentially unwanted applications (like adware).
The latter doesn’t damage or expose your computer or its files but may consume power and CPU cycles. Because the testing effectively looks at a combination of virus databases and behavior, they remain good gauges even after many months. When an antivirus software package lacks a rating from a known security research lab, we do more extensive testing with real malware.
Finally, while we gave props for a lot of different features and behaviors, we marked products down if they lacked any or all of the following:
- A nearly perfect score on macOS malware detection
- Ransomware monitoring
- Native browser plug-in or system-level Web proxy
- A high score on Windows malware detection
Privacy concerns
Using an anti-virus product, especially any that includes tools to also improve your online privacy, may lull you into believing you’re safe from personal and private information leaking out. Best anti malware for mac os. That’s not quite the case. While there’s no reason to panic, you should consider a few reasonable issues.
First, an antivirus product may upload the complete text of files flagged to the cloud, where it can be analyzed by separate tools hosted there. This practice is normal and sensible: Some malware can detect when a running process may examine it, and will then engage in subterfuge. Antivirus software makers also can access their massive databases to examine files with characteristics that trigger their algorithms—certain elements that match known malware. As a result, security researchers discover new viruses, worms, Trojans horses, and the like.
However, helping the greater good means you’ll have to be comfortable with trusting a third-party with your file contents. Where appropriate, we noted privacy policy issues in individual reviews.
Second, this software may also rely partly or entirely on cloud-based checks of URLs, malware, and the like. Accordingly, an AV package might upload every URL you visit, metadata about files, signatures of files, information about your computer’s hardware, a list of running or installed applications, and more. Companies vary on their disclosure of such policies, and may not let you opt out of this kind of sharing. We note issues in each review as available.
Third, anti-virus software makers also get a sense of what behavior is happening on your computer that’s being monitored or blocked, and may use that information for their own purposes. In some cases, you can opt out of this information gathering.
All of our antivirus for Mac reviews
If you have specific requirements or just wish to see other options, below is a list of all the antivirus software we’ve reviewed. We’ll keep evaluating new and refreshed software on a regular basis, so be sure to come back to see what else we’ve put through the ringer.
What We Like
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OS X Mail lets you manage mail with efficiency and comfort
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You can send files up to 5 GB easily using Mail Drop, an iCloud service
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OS X Mail includes fast search, smart folders and enticing stationery
What We Don't Like
![Best Best](https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/field/image/2017/01/mail-pilot-mac-screenshot.jpg?itok=VIF5a6Oz)
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OS X Mail does not offer rules or smart folders that learn from example and action
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Flexible message templates and truly free-form labeling are missing from OS X Mail
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OS X Mail's smart folders could offer more criteria (message categories, for example)
Mail is the solid, powerful and easy to use email program built into OS X.
While OS X Mail's smart spam filter gets rid of practically all junk mail, the fast and precise search and smart folders make finding and managing good mail a snap. The auto-populating folders could be even smarter, however, and support more filtering criteria.
Description
- OS X Mail lets you manage multiple POP, IMAP, Exchange, and iCloud Mail email accounts.
- You can send plain or rich text messages, using stationery as a starting point if you wish. Text substitution inserts snippets fast.
- Spotlight-powered search finds mail and attached files fast, and smart folders automatically collect relevant messages.
- Conversation view collects messages that belong together and hides superfluous text (e.g., signatures or quoted passages).
- OS X Mail lets you send regular attachments (where you can easily annotate images and PDF files and perform quick edits) but also integrates an iCloud service called Mail Drop that seamlessly delivers files up to 5 GB in size.
- Incoming mail filters can organize and color-code messages for you, send automatic replies, and more. A VIPs folder automatically collects messages from key senders.
- OS X Mail also includes adaptive (Bayesian) spam filtering that moves spam out of the way effectively on the computer level in addition to what happens at the server.
- Integration with Notification Center offers desktop alerts and a history of notifications; you can choose the kind of mail to trigger alerts.
- Mail detects phone numbers, addresses, and other data automatically and offers to show maps or use contact information for address book entries.
- Support for S/MIME email security lets you sign and encrypt messages in Mail, and parental controls allow you to restrict with whom a Mac OS X Mail user can correspond.
- Using iCloud, Mail settings, rules, and smart folders are synchronized across computers; text snippets synchronize with iOS as well.
- OS X Mail supports OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
Expert Review of the OS X Mail 9 Email Program
Most operating systems come with at least one email program. So does OS X, and Apple has done a great job.
All the Accounts You Need and Search to Find Mail in Them
OS X Mail sports a clean, easy to use interface to its powerful features. With great support for multiple POP, IMAP, Exchange and iCloud accounts, versatile mail filters, and a smart conversation view, Mail is flexible enough for most needs.
Additionally, Mail comes with an email program's two essential features: a smart spam filter that learns from your decisions and fast search that allows you to locate any email in seconds, no matter which folder it is in. Keyboard shortcuts abound, and make accessing oft-used folders and filing messages to them a snap, for example.
Smart Folders and Colorful Labels
Best Email Client For Mac Os X
Virtual folders that automatically show you all mail matching certain criteria or searches make life with OS X Mail even more comfortable and streamlined. It would be great if more criteria were available for these smart folders, though, or if they could learn from example like the junk mail filter.
To organize your mail flexibly, you can use flags (using colors and custom titles) in addition to folders and smart folders. It's a pity there are just 7, though, and only one can be applied to each message.
Help With Writing Rich Emails and Sending Big Files
Of course, you can read richly formatted emails properly and securely in Mail, and compose with comfort and style, too. For graphically rich messages, choose from enticing stationery or create your own. Unfortunately, you cannot use stationery for replies or create templates that adapt to the original message.
System-wide text substitution inserts text snippets swiftly, though, and OS X Mail has special treats in store for attachments. You can make quick adjustments to images you send and annotate or edit PDF files (including adding your handwritten signature); if files are too large to be sent reliably as traditional attachments, Mail Drop, a free iCloud service, delivers them seamlessly as downloads available to all recipients.
Together with Keychain Access, which offers quite flexible and comfortable certificate management, OS X Mail makes it easy to digitally sign and encrypt email messages using S/MIME, and OpenPGP support can be added with an add-on.
Best Email Program For Mac Os
(Updated October 2015)