Sophos Vs Kaspersky
Avast For Mac Review
Avg Vs Sophos

The battle against computer virus infection shows no signs of abating, with over 220,000 malicious programs registered everyday. The anti-virus community is, at best, reactive, taking about a month to respond to new virus threats. On the front lines of the battlefield, software makers Avast and Sophos offer multilevel malware protection for a range of devices and operating systems.

The Cost of Coverage

Avast's marketshare is dominating, ranking second behind Microsoft in malware protection. This is likely due to Avast's free distribution model for personal use of its basic anti-virus product. Sophos provides strictly commercial software subscriptions of its products, though several have a 30-day, fully functional trial period. Avast also grants 30-day trials on its commercial offerings, as well as several additional free tools for mobile phones and browser clean up.

Sophos Vs Kaspersky

Platform Support

The product is called Avast Free Mac Security 2018 (version 11) and same as the Windows version it’s completely for free. (Sophos 247k, Avira 80k, Norton 30k, Kaspersky 12k, McAfee 11k, Eset 9k). Avast Free Mac Security is the most downloaded antivirus for Mac with more than 4.5 million downloads. If you're going to install AV on a Mac, Avast is better. I don't recommend either though. Sophos (and I got this from a Sophos engineer) is a great Windows product that was ported to a Mac because a high level executive was a Mac guy and wanted them to.

As well as malware solutions for servers and networks, both Avast and Sophos include support for Windows 8.1. Sophos also provides support for Mac operating systems, Android devices, Linux and UNIX anti-virus, Microsoft Exchange and network storage protection for file servers such as NetApp, EMC and Sun. Avast offers products for Mac operating systems, Android devices, Linux, email and file servers. Platform support varies by product for both companies, and platform coverage for individual users is very similar.

Comparing System Impact

In system impact performance tests conducted in May, 2014, software tester Anti-Virus Comparatives assessed Avast Free Antivirus 2014 and Sophos Anti-Virus 10.3 in side-by-side performance tests on a Windows 8.1 system. These tests compared how each product affected common computer operations after installation. Avast and Sophos scored identically, with a system impact score of 6.2. You can expect similar computer performance while running either company's flagship personal use product.

File Detection Performance

The key to anti-virus protection is the ability to detect files containing malicious code. Anti-Virus Comparatives reported the results of a file detection test between Avast Free Antivirus 2014 and Sophos Endpoint Security and Control Suite 10.3 in March of 2014. Sophos scored a file detection rate of 98.3 percent, compared with Avast's score of 97.7 percent. This report also included a test of false positives -- files detected as malicious, which are actually false alarms. Sophos demonstrated very few false positives, while Avast generated many.

Virus Removal Performance

Avast For Mac Review

Once an anti-virus product detects a malware infection, its ability to remove the infection completes the product's protection. Avast Free Antivirus and Sophos Endpoint Security 10.2 were tested by AntiVirus Comparatives in November, 2013 for malware removal ability. Ratings were based on effectiveness of removal, as well as the convenience of the removal process. Avast scored 87 on this scoring scale, achieving an Advanced + rating, while Sophos scored 85 and an Advanced rating.

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.
Sophos Antivirus for Mac Home Edition, just like AVG uses a traditional signature-based identification and heuristic behavioral-based monitoring to detect malware. The antivirus software also checks computers and its connections.
Sophos also provides support for Mac operating systems, Android devices, Linux and UNIX anti-virus, Microsoft Exchange and network storage protection for file servers such as NetApp, EMC and Sun. Avast offers products for Mac operating systems, Android devices, Linux, email and file servers.

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References

While it's unlikely you'll ever run into malware for the Mac, you may want to consider an antivirus tool anyway—if not to protect yourself, but to protect your Windows-using friends from any malware you may inadvertently send their way. We think that Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac is the best choice, and it's free.

Update: Our previous recommendation for Mac Antivirus was 'nothing.' We know many of you choose to use nothing, but we also know you don't come to the App Directory to not get any suggestions at all. Besides, malware is starting to become a bit more prevalent on the Mac, and even the safest browsing habits don't protect you completely. So, we now officially recommend Sophos as our Mac antivirus of choice.

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac

Platform: OS X (10.4+)
Price: Free
Download Page

Features

Compact, easy-to-use interface that can be used for custom on-demand scans of files, folders, and drives, or scheduled, periodic full scans of your Mac.
Also scans files on your Mac for known Windows malware, trojans, and viruses, and deletes or quarantines them so you don't risk spreading them to someone else via network share, USB drive, or email.
Deletes or quarantines known threats, gives you the option to quarantine anything suspicious that may be a new threat or dangerous file.
Runs quietly in the background, scanning emails, downloads, and any other files on access, stopping you from opening them before they can do any harm.
Light on system resources while running in the background.
Installs like any other Mac application, and uninstalls just as easily—no complicated packages or components to manage or configure.
Sophos' 'Live Antivirus' feature updates your app the moment new threats are detected or found in the wild. The feature also performs real-time lookups to see if files accessed are in the SophosLabs database, even if they're unfamiliar to the app.
Supports OS X up to 10.8 and back to 10.4, and is completely free for all versions.

Where It Excels

Sophos actually has an excellent breakdown of the history of malware for the Mac going all the way back to 1982. The fact that the article exists should remind Mac users that while they're not the primary target for malware authors, they're by no means invulnerable. The size of the article however should issue some confidence that the risk—while present—is by no means critical.

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac stands out in a somewhat crowded field of Mac antivirus apps because it doesn't just scan your Mac's files and folders on demand, but it does it quietly in the background without tapping your already precious system resources in the process. The utility also keeps its own constantly-updating database of Windows viruses, trojans, and other threats, so if you inadvertently download a Windows virus or trojan that won't harm you, you don't run the risk of sending it off to someone else by forwarding the message, or you won't infect other computers on your network (or any Windows partitions or virtual machines you run on the same hardware) via shared drives. Sophos is smart enough to tell you 'Hey, this won't hurt you, but we're going to quarantine/delete it so you don't accidentally email this attachment to someone else.' That's a huge benefit—and it keeps you from being that guy no one likes.

Another banner feature Sophos offers that its competition doesn't is its live, real-time access to SophosLabs. 'Live Antivirus,' as it's called in the app, gives you an added layer of protection. The app automatically identifies and quarantines suspicious files, installers, and other packages that may not be well known threats yet, but definitely exhibit behavior suspicious enough that Sophos is looking into them.

Best of all though, in our testing, So

Sophos Vs. Avast For Mac