I probably don't have to post this but better safe than sorry. The end of the year is a special holiday for those who send out virus-laden attachments. If you get a message that says "Happy new year" or "Enjoy the fireworks celebration" and it has any sort of file embedded or attached, beware. I've gotten about a dozen in the last twenty-four hours, all safely deflected by my e-mail screener, virus checker and a bit of common sense.
Actually, you need more than a bit of common sense. The one time I got a real, life-disrupting virus on my computer, it was in spite of all those protections. Someone — and I'm pretty sure I know who it was — sent me a nasty one and I saw it unopened, recognized it for what it was and moved to delete it. As sometimes happens, the mouse hand did not do what the brain told it to do and I clicked on the file, thereby opening it and triggering its payload, instead of right-clicking for a deletion. Big mistake. I not only had a virus in my computer, I had one that was so new that none of the virus-nuking companies — Norton, McAfee, etc. — had heard of it yet. A week later, my virus checker (I think I had McAfee then) would have stopped it or removed it but the day I got it, it was uncharted territory. So keep an eye out for booby traps. What I went through that time would be a lousy way to start your year.