If you use Parallels to run Windows on your Mac you're probably alerted to the fact of McAfee's problem with their Antivirus software. David Passell noticed the news earlier today. "I have XP Pro. Apparently the McAfee, the company that has produced Anti Virus software for years has made a mistake in an upgrade that crashes Windows XP and requires expert help to recover. You can read the article and comments here. Lots of Apple and Linux gloaters:).

"I don't know what effect, if any, this may have to Mac users running Windows programs. I started XP and it seemed to be running funny. I quickly uninstalled McAfee and also some program called Kaspersky Security that continually 'encounters problems that cause it to shut down.' Windows XP Pro seems to be running fine now."

To the rescue comes John Carter, "At the moment, the best anti-virus protection for Windows is AVG Free for three reasons. 1) It doesn't crash Windows. 2) It doesn't hog the processor while it is scanning the system. 3) It is FREE!

When you are attempting to download the free version, be absolutely certain that you are getting the free version and not the 30-day trial." Go to this softpedia link. On that page click on the Softpedia US link (shown below - don't click on any green button)