AVG Anti-virus Free Edition 7.5 review

Note: please check out the FAQ if you have any issues.

AVG is, quite frankly, the most popular free antivirus out there. According to reviews, it has a good detection rate and offers solid protection.

From my experience, it's horrible, and its popularity and critical acclaim (5 stars by CNet and a VB100% award) is one of my great software junkie mysteries. It can't catch viruses, and seems to avoid malware altogether (just because it's free! The pro version doesn't, though). It's not really RAM intensive, but definitely is heavier on system resources compared to AntiVir or even avast. AVG Technologies (formerly Grisoft) isn't really responsive to virus outbreaks, and the updates dealing with a particular situation often appear too late. Real-time scanning is poor.

Last but not the least, the interface gets the job done, but seriously, seriously needs cosmetic surgery.

The good:
- None

The bad:
- Poor detection rate
- Update availability issues

The ugly:
- Ugly interface

Price: Free
Go to: Grisoft website

Avira AntiVir Personal Classic 2008 review

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Let me put it this way: AntiVir is a good free antivirus, but it suffers from some issues avast doesn't. (I felt) AntiVir had a better detection rate than avast (contrary to the reviews you'll read), or is just as good. The interface is nice, the red umbrella icon is pleasing, and the real-time scan is definitely better than avast.

The latest version (v7.06.00.268) is, unfortunately, buggier than the previous one. My MSN Messenger refused to run anymore once I installed AntiVir; the website is agonizingly non-intuitive; it takes ages to run the complete scan, and worse, it alerts you when it finds a virus and refuses to move on until you've specified an action. The last feature alone is enough to turn off many users. What's sad is that I used to be an AntiVir devotee once.

The good:
- Decent detection engine
- Good real-time scanner
- Nice interface

The bad:
- Slow scan speed

The ugly:
- Has serious scan configuration issues

Price: Free
Go to: Avira website

Avast 4.7 Home Edition review

Note: please check out the FAQ if you have any issues.

The latest version of avast (v4.7.1098) is reportedly very good. I have friends who are long time users of avast, and they're happy with it. I myself used it for a couple of weeks. It's good: it has a good boot-time scanner, and it's much better catching viruses and malware now. It's light on system resources, too. avast is clearly the best free antivirus out there, although I can't really say it's as good as a decent paid antivirus (it did, however, catch worms that Norton and an older version of McAfee missed).

avast's download servers aren't the best (or at least the ones they have in Asia aren't); like all free antivirus software, their real-time scanner needs improvement; and once it's running on your PC you'll get lots of false alerts (mostly update-related).

I had a very weird problem with a previous version of avast (v4.6; I forgot to test it on the latest one): I use a DD-MM-YY date format on my computer, but avast seems to recognize only MM-DD-YY. As a result I couldn't use the software after a point; avast kept reminding me that my license had expired. I wrote to Alwil (the company) about it more than once, but didn't get a reply.

The problem wasn't fixed in the upcoming weeks, so I decided I had had enough. The avast icons, spinning on their own (one of them) in the system tray, is a sight that I can't stand (why do you need to have spinning, bloated-looking icons?). And although avast has many skins available, the interface needs to be much more intuitive.

The good:
- Light on system resources
- Decent detection rate
 
The bad:
- Poor interface
- Real-time scanner needs improvement
- Slightly overrated

The ugly:
- Poor support
- Bugs

Price: Free (registration required)
Go to: Alwil website