When ClamXAV went commercial in 2016 I bought it immediately for $30 to support the developer. One thing to note: the scanning speeds, and the ramp up time before a scan actually begins are both hugely improved over v2. Those drive icons are a little too big and don't fit in well with the look and feel of a modern Mac, but to be honest, I don't spend my life inside the GUI of my AV software, so I don't really care too much about that. The UI could do with a little more polish, it's true. In each case for me, the constant updates and improvements, and decent licensing terms have been enough to persuade me to opt in. The only other two subs I maintain are for JetBrains products and Office 365. Not that I'm a fan of subscriptions, but in this case it's almost a no-brainer.
Here we have a developer who cares about the Mac, who puts real effort into getting a quality program out, and yes, who asks to be paid for his work. Yes others are completely free, but from experience they also consume more system resources and are a PITA to remove. So not free, but so close as to make no real difference. On the whole, ClamXAV is a reliable anti-malware solution for macOS that manages to provide a strong layer of security over your Mac's data with a large set of powerful features and a user-friendly interface.£14.99 with the 50% discount and VAT removal (being a company purchase) for 3 computers over 2 years - it works out at a few pence per month. Full-featured anti-malware utility for the MacĬlamXAV also offers a Services menu to the Finder which enables you to assign a global hot key for scanning selected files or folders from the Keyboard section of the System Preferences. In addition, via the Preferences window, you can change the behavior of the antivirus by configure the audio alerts, setting up a quarantine folder, exclude certain files from scanning, scheduling virus scans and definition updates, or manage the ClamXAV Sentry component. Status bar integration and automated folder monitoringĬlamXAV's menu bar item will automatically change to indicate the antivirus' status: it grays out if no folders are watched, it gets black if folders are watched, and it flashes if it is scanning for viruses or updating definitions.Īnother worth mentioning feature is ClamXAV's ability to monitor specific folders for incoming threats which means that whenever you copy files to a location (such as your Mac's Desktop), ClamXAV will instantly start scanning for malware. Moreover, the ClamXAV Sentry is an important component of the antivirus, as it provides quick access to some of the most important functions, displaying real-time visual notifications about what ClamXAV is doing.
#CLAMXAV REVIEW UPDATE#
The user interface is quite straightforward and provides access to all available features in a streamlined fashion, giving you access to the toolbar, source list, infection list, console and status area quit easily.īefore scanning for viruses on your Mac, users are strongly advised to update their virus definitions from ClamXAV's website, a procedure that can be performed manually from the toolbar, via the ClamXAV Sentry, or automatically by specifying the update interval in the app's preferences dialog. Robust antivirus solution with a clear-cut user interface and real-time notification engine
#CLAMXAV REVIEW MAC#
ClamXAV is an anti-malware solution for macOS which uses the popular ClamAv antivirus engine, and designed to detect and quarantine all kids of threats (for both Mac and Windows) such as viruses, trojans, phishing and spyware.