Apple’s .Mac online service last week began to offer downloads of McAfee Virex 7.5, an updated version of the Mac OS X anti-virus software first announced earlier this year. Now .Mac has pulled Virex 7.5 from distribution and is advising users to uninstall the new version of the software and stop using it entirely.
“NOTE: Due to customer feedback and technical issues currently under investigation, we have temporarily discontinued distribution of Virex 7.5 from McAfee until further notice,” says a message posted to the Apple Discussions message board dedicated to Virex and .Mac usage. “Virex 7.2.1 is available from the Virex pages at www.mac.com and in the Software folder of your iDisk. If you have Virex 7.5 currently installed we recommend you uninstall it now by downloading and double-clicking this script.”
Apple does not specifically mention why the software has been pulled from distribution, but discussions on the Apple message board and elsewhere indicate that some users have had issues with their e-mail client mailboxes getting corrupted or damaged after installing the new software, which adds active virus detection and eradication and other new features.