Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If You're Looking for Protection for Your Mac, Look No Further, July 13, 2009
I've read all the reviews of this Trend Smart Surfing for the Mac and can see both sides. Some people don't think the program is necessary, other think the more protection the better. I think I come down on the side of the latter. Trend Smart does a few simple things and it does them well without hogging up your ram. It warns you about suspicious websites. It scans your computer for malware. And it has simple to use parental controls. Actually my better half thinks it has good husband controls as well and you can well imagine the sites she thinks I shouldn't be looking at. Not that I ever go to those places, I don't. Well, if I'm doing research. To sum it up, if you're looking for some additional protection for you're Mac, look no further.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Does What it Claims without any Slowdown, July 2, 2009
My sister didn't like this program, basically she said it wasn't necessary for a Mac. Well, I think I disagree. You can never have too much protection, that's my point of view. With all these widows of dead Nigerian generals wanting to make you rich, with all the identity thieves out there and with all the phishing scams, well like I said, every little bit of protection helps.
Some have implied that this program isn't ready for prime time, but it installed on my computer without a hitch and I'm not seeing any slowdown on my newish iMac at all. True, it took forever for the program to scan my disc, but it's not like I was sitting in front of it waiting for the program to finish. This program is unobtrusive, seems to be doing what it claims to and you can't ask more of a program than that.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
New security choice bears consideration, June 24, 2009
Chinese strategist Sun-tzu's practice of keeping friends close and enemies closer continues to be fine practice in business and the boardroom. However, when unknown outsiders are launching spyware, viruses and Trojan horses my way, I prefer the Great Wall approach.
Certainly, as a longtime computer user who tries my best to keep up with computer news and trends, I tend to recognize phishing attempts and sketchy domains and hyperlink/URL tricks. I've run Macs for work and pleasure almost exclusively since the late `80s, and while I love many things about the Mac universe, the relative lack of choice of streamlined protective applications has left me a bit unsettled in recent times.
While I operate behind firewalls as often as I can, that's not always practical. And while I practice safe computing to the best of my ability on the road, including disposable e-mail addresses and single-use credit card numbers, I have cast an envious eye on the arsenals my PC friends have available, both freeware and retail.
Thus, I was glad to see Trend Micro enter the Mac arena in mid-April with its Smart Surfing for Mac program Trend Smart Surfing for Mac. I've been using the freeware version of iAntiVirus and was eager to compare the offerings of these two different suppliers. (I've had mixed experiences with other products.)
TARGET CUSTOMERS
This program seems well-suited to users of a range of computer experience and comfort level. Old hands will appreciate the transparency of settings, while those who are newer to computing and self-support will find Smart Surfing pretty self-explanatory. In my personal life, having had to troubleshoot problems for a college kid thousands of miles away, having had this program on that notebook would have reduced her tears and frustration and greatly streamlined the process.
THE GOOD
Smart Surfing for Mac is simple to install and use out of the box. Installation and running the updater took less than 5 minutes. Modifying the factory settings to my taste took another 5 minutes, and they're easily re-tweaked. Layout is clear and logical, and it's easy to revert to factory settings if one has second thoughts. Menus enable users to set the intensity of threat-protection (novice users may want to boost this); a website filter provides virtual oversight of children's computer use based on specific parameters and the ability to block web sites or behaviors; and users can direct the program to scan a specific location, such as an external drive.
Most interesting and important to me was the ability to enable updates of the application and to choose how frequently and thoroughly I wanted scans to be run. You're able to schedule scans to run automatically on a daily basis or less frequently, and to choose a start time, so you can avoid periods of high use on your computer(s). To test impact, I ran complete scans while actively using other applications. I didn't notice an impact on other applications' responsiveness but did encounter a bit more slowness than my usual experience in the loading of some graphics-intensive websites, which I specifically visited because they tend to load slowly most of the time.
Also useful is the ability to direct what is to be done with suspect files. Experienced users may want to customize Smart Surfing's response to perceived threats. I chose to have the program first try to clean the suspected item, and if that didn't work, to next quarantine it. Past experience with other programs has taught me to look at what a program is objecting to before letting it wipe the file.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD
Certain programs are territorial, not wanting similar programs to be running while they are. Smart Surfing takes this a step further -- its install won't proceed if you have a similar program on your hard drive, even if it's not running. While I understand why you don't want to have two such programs running at the same time, it's been shown in the online world that your best protection comes from having some overlap.
THE PUZZLING
Before uninstalling my antivirus freeware, I had it run a complete scan. It ran through more than 608,000 items, by its count. Smart Surfing identified only about 500,000 items to review. I suspected the large difference was based on how iAntiVirus and Smart Surfing "count" items but didn't want to assume. I've received confirmation from Trend Micro's product team that indeed the count varies based on how a program counts items: "Our `full scan' feature does indeed scan through every file on the system, but with regards to the differences in the total count of files, we attribute this to differences in the way in which files & objects are counted." I decided to provide this degree of detail to anticipate questions future users may have, and as an indication of the company's responsiveness.
THE VERDICT
This program is available as a 30-day trial so you can try it before picking up a year's subscription. If you've got teenagers or older relatives who aren't as savvy as they could be about Internet risks, this is a gift of kindness. And if, like me, life often takes you beyond the firewall, this program is nimbler than earlier competitors' pay-for-use offerings. The fact that Trend Micro's been in this business for two decades and has a suite of by-subscription products would indicate it invests the necessary resources to keep a weather eye out for the fire-tipped arrows that may be aimed at its users.
UPDATE, July 2009: At the risk of making this even longer, I wanted to note that this program is still going strong for me. By using the blocking element of it, I've finally successfully gotten rid of popups that several of my favorite newspaper sites insist on using ... popups that BTW have snuck past the popup blocker option provided by the two browsers I use most often.
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