Bad movement from AVG
I generally does not post that long... but this one deserves reading for the ones which is thinking of moving from AVG to avast.
I wanted to discuss two things:
1) Why does he argue that avast has a
tad less protection?
2) Why does he say that avast in
resource hungry?
AVG Version 8 Free Released - quoted from Gizmo's Newsletter
In late February AVG Technologies announced AVG V8, the latest incarnation of their popular anti-virus scanner. Version 8 includes fully integrated spyware protection, rootkit protection and web link checking of search engine results. It is yet another example of a former anti-virus scanner transforming into an anti-malware scanner, a trend I noted in last month's editorial column.
On April 24 the free version of AVG V8 was released, and was promptly met with howls of derision. The free version excluded the rootkit scanner, active protection against hostile websites and a number of the other goodies added to the commercial V8 product. It also was proving to be very buggy.
Worse still, AVG announced that they would discontinue (at the end of May) the virus updates for the current V7.5 free version as well as their free anti-spyware and rootkit detection products.
I can fully understand
user's disappointment with these announcements, but this is a perfectly normal commercial decision. AVG is, after all, a commercial organization, not a charity.
Their move does, however, present users of AVG's free software with a problem. Before the release of the V8, many AVG users employed an excellent security setup that combined the free version of AVG AV 7.5 with AVG's free anti-spyware scanner.
With both these products being phased out, users are faced with a dilemma.
There are a couple of options:
Based on the evidence available as of today, I think the best route for free software users who want maximum protection is to switch to the free Avira AV [3] scanner and optionally, bolster this with the free Spyware Terminator program [4] or, less desirably, Windows Defender [5].
I say this because the free Avira product includes rootkit protection, while the free AVG does not. It is also more stable. Furthermore, Avira has better overall protection than AVG. Check out the AV Comparatives results [6] and you will see what I mean.
On the downside,
Avira has limited active email protection,
will nag you more than AVG free and the interface is somewhat more crude. But the overall level of protection is excellent.
Another option which offers a
tad less protection but greater convenience is to switch to the free Avast! scanner. The latest version of Avast! is a major improvement on what was already an impressive product. And the free version includes anti-spyware, anti-rootkit and email protection, so you don't need to use it in concert with another product.
On the downside Avast! is
resource hungry. Subscriber Basil Irwin pointed out that "not counting pseudo-drivers, Avast! consumes around 70MB of memory compared to 8MB for AntiVir. I didn't do any formal testing of CPU consumption or timing of various common operations, but there was no doubt in my mind that Avast! noticeably slowed several common operations, like program loading and file copying."
For average users with modern PCs I suggest the low hassle Avast! Option, while higher risk users may be better off going with Avira.
You could, of course, just stick with AVG 8 Free, and bolster your defenses with other products. However, there have been too many V8 "bug" reports to suggest this is an attractive option at this point in time.
[1]
http://www.grisoft.com/ww.90627[2]
http://free.grisoft.com/ww.download-avg-anti-spyware-and-anti-rootkit[3]
http://www.free-av.com/en/products/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html[4]
http://www.spywareterminator.com[5]
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx[6]
http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2008_02.php
