May 02, 2008 - A
review and "Hands on" comparison of the BIG 3 against Grisoft's
AVG 8.0 Suite.
by R. F. Mariano
Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam, Web
Shield & Firewall
Comprehensive protection for your computer! AVG ensures your
safety while you search or surf the net, download music,
documents and pictures, send emails or instant message by
scanning documents, files, Web pages and Web links before you
open them. AVG Internet Security is a reliable and easy-to-use
solution for home and small office users.
There comes a time in every
computer user's life when the machine in use is Nailed by some
sort of Virus, Worm, Trojan, Malware and/or Spyware. Countless
computerists take extraordinary steps to protect themselves from
these threats but rarely if ever, pay attention to exactly
what's going on.
Most users install their protection software and rely on "blind
faith" in hopes the software publisher will ensure timely
updates and top notch protection from known and newly discovered
threats. Blind faith is NOT the way to go.
For the past year, we've been testing the BIG three on various
machines in our offices. The big three being McAfee, Norton and
MS Live OneCare. Sure, there are others "out there" but let's
face it.. the big three have the lion's share of the market so,
most users are involved with them.
Let's look at McAfee first since they're usually force fed to
users via their Internet Service Providers (ISP). You would
think that the ISPs handing out this software free to their
subscribers (subs) would pay attention to more than just the
monthly collections. They, like most of their subs leave the
Protection up the Software Publisher. In this case McAfee. The
BIG question is what do they use for their own machines? McAfee
rates a 4 out of a possible 10 due to its lack of adequately
protecting all email flow and content.
Norton, another 4 out of a possible 10, is an excellent package
but its highly intrusive. By that I mean it gets into "every
area known to mankind" on your system. Export your registry
before you install Norton and then after you've installed
Norton, export it again and check size... All I'll do is ask
why? The speed at which Norton checks email is painfully slow.
Again why? In some cases, the user is obliged to deal with
Norton accessory software to gain fixes. Why? Because, in our
opinion, Norton is kludged together. The fun part begins when a
normal user tries uninstalling Norton! Have fun.... They have a
free program available on their site to do the job since the
uninstall routines are grossly inefficient.
Now comes the "Beast" - Windows Live One Care... "The new kid on
the block".
Windows Live One Care simply put;
FAILS! It fell off the
negative side of the scale. It FAILSmiserably.
Gates should only have to deal with this beast. Nightmare one
began when they started shooting updates to this thing via
auto-update. Initially it was a disaster. Then seemingly, it was
fixed. Nightmare two came along with OneCare v2. A large segment of the userbase
was totally and completely "fudged". Left UNPROTECTED
due to autoupdate software installation errors.
That means the users received the updated software via updates
but when it installed OneCare produced copious errors calling for
reboots upon reboots. Thus causing hours of user grief trying to retain
some semblance of protection. To this very day, there is no
"fix" for this joke. Those systems in which
OneCare failed to install are destined to need a "clean" install
of the OS and another try. That is a very bad joke. Between using their
cleaner software to remove all remaining vestiges of OneCare and
then Installing again and again.. It became an adventure in repetitive
torture. Don't believe me? Go read the OneCare
Forums.
As a result, the review and testimonial for
Grisoft's Internet Security Suite.
In a word, get this package. Do not hesitate.
ClassicPrimeExample:Once installed on
a system that had gone through 6 months of OneCare's "Total
Protection", AVG nailed a half dozen pests that had been on the
system all along.
There is no better package out there for you. AVG is truly user
friendly, and affordable. I
could go on and on about the excellent support, daily updates
and efficient scanning. The truth is, I am
overjoyed at the reliability, performance and confidence I have knowing AVG is "on the job". Having anything further to say
is simply wasting your time. Go to the Grisoft Website and download
your trial copy NOW. It'll be the best protection decision
you can make. Perhaps, in a very long time. You won't be
sorry.
TRUE PROTECTION 100% of the time your
machine is up and running.
Anti-Virus: protection
against
viruses,
worms
and
trojans
Anti-Spyware: protection
against
spyware,
adware
and
identity-theft
Anti-Rootkit: protection
against
hidden
threats
(rootkits)
Anti-Spam: filters
out
unwanted
and
fraudulent
e-mails
(anti-phishing)
Web
Shield
&
LinkScanner: protection
against
malicious
websites
Firewall: protection
against
hackers
System
Tools: for
easy
system
management
Easy-to-use,
automated
protection
Real-time
protection,
automatic
updates,
low-impact
background
scanning
for
online
threats,
and
instant
quarantining
or
removal
of
infected
files
ensures
maximum
protection.
Every
interaction
between
your
computer
and the
Internet
is
monitored,
so
nothing
can get
onto
your
system
without
your
knowledge.
AVG
scans in
real
time:
All
files
including
documents,
pictures
and
applications
E-mails
(all
major
email
programs
like
MS
Outlook
and
Thunderbird
supported)
Instant
messaging
and
P2P
communications
File
downloads
and
online
transactions
such
as
shopping
and
banking
Search
results
and
any
other
links
you
click
on
Internet
security
with
peace of
mind
The
new web
shield
checks
every
web page
at the
moment
you
click on
the link
to
ensure
you’re
not hit
by a
stealthy
drive-by
download
or any
other
exploits.
All
links on
search
results
pages in
Google,
Yahoo,
and MSN
are
analyzed
and
their
current
threat
level is
reported
in real
time
before
you
click on
the link
and
visit
the
site.
Easy
system
management
The
new
system
tools
let you
easily
configure
your
privacy
settings,
connections,
and
browser
plug-ins
all in
one
place.
The best
Windows
protection
-
trusted
by
millions
of users
AVG's
award-winning
antivirus
technology
protects
millions
of users
and is
certified
by major
antivirus
testing
organizations
(VB100%,
ICSA,
West
Coast
Labs
Checkmark).
View
all AVG
awards &
certifications
No
hidden
costs
When
you
purchase
an AVG
product,
everything
you need
is
included
in the
price
for the
full
license
duration
-
technical
support,
virus
updates,
and new
program
versions.
All
users of
paid AVG
products
also
qualify
for
generous
discounts
on
subscription
renewals
and
product
upgrades.
Flexible
licensing
AVG
Internet
Security
can
be
purchased
online
in
license
packs
for
1-10
computers.
Bits
& Bytes
View
all AVG
awards &
certifications
