AVG has been one of the most popular free antivirus tools for many a year, and updates its software for 2010 with the new AVG 9. We’ll kick off by summarising the different versions of the software, which still includes a free version for those who already have a firewall or other security on their system. This includes all the basic tools you need but omits a web shield, anti-rootkit protection, a game mode and technical support, which is all found on the ?27.99 standard edition. This version is also available with a firewall for ?35.99, though stepping up to the most comprehensive "Internet Security" option would be sensible at this stage, as for ?39.99 you get system tune-up tools, anti-spam and identity protection thrown in.

The first thing users of previous versions will notice is that there aren’t a lot of obvious changes here, and though the interface is slightly cleaner, it retains the multi-component layout and stripped down menus that has become synonymous with the software. Most improvements have come in the form of tweaks and enhancements, improving the firewall, phishing protection, anti-spam and in speeding up scans.

This area has seen a distinct improvement in recent times, but it’s worth highlighting that AVG has never been the quickest so it still lags quite seriously behind some of the competition. During our tests it achieved a standard scan time of around 4 minutes, and this doesn’t speed up much during subsequent repeats. By contrast, the excellent Norton AntiVirus 2010 initially took 1 minute to scan the same test system, with subsequent scans dropping to just 10 seconds.

AVG is fairly light on resources and a straightforward approach does make it easy to get to grips with, which should appeal to less experienced users. The firewall has also been improved to allow the software to better make decisions automatically, so you’re not often bugged for confirmation of actions during operation.

AVG has also done pretty well in terms of independent certification recently and though the results aren’t in yet on version 9, we’re confident it is capable of maintaining this standard.

Official Windows 7 compatibility just about rounds off the improvements here, so it seem as though AVG is happy to offer some fairly standard tweaks and enhancements to placate existing users and upgraders rather than attempt to drag in any new business. The free version still has obvious appeal and it’s still one of the best around in this light, but none of "pay" packages are cheap or revolutionary enough to compete against faster, sleeker and more comprehensive software from rivals such as Norton and BitDefender.

Verdict:

AVG has tweaked its software to bring it in line with new threats and improve efficiency, but it still lags behind many rivals in terms of scan times and doesn’t really bring enough to the table to encourage new users to ditch their existing internet security in its favour.?

Tags: Software Security software Viruses And Malware AVG AVG9

AVG 9.0 security software originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:21:03 +0000

We've seen a few new arrivals in the security software market for 2010 so far but are yet to experience any dramatic improvements, certainly in terms of new features and innovations. Rarely one to rest on its laurels, Symantec has been busy putting an end to all that and the new version of Norton Antivirus has a series of new features that complement more predictable enhancements to performance and usability.

Typically fast to install, the software was up and running in around a minute and what's immediately obvious is that Symantec has revamped the interface with a snazzy new look. This is for both aesthetic and practical reasons and despite many of the new features being oriented more towards advanced users, things are still kept simple here with straightforward scan control, simple "on/off" switches for related components and direct access to scan history and quarantine. There's also details of network protection here, which offers similar control, and access to more detailed settings in these areas is still accessible to allow for fine tuning.

NAV2010 successfully scanned our test system in around a minute, which by means of comparison is only around 10% faster than the previous version of Norton 360, but significantly quicker than most other rivals. As Norton gets used to your system however, these times are reduced, and in fact we very impressed to see this drop to just 10 seconds during subsequent scans.

Part of the reason for this and one of the biggest improvements to this new version comes in the form of Quorum and the Norton Insight tools. The former represents a major breakthrough in reputation-based security and helps the software adopt a more cautious approach to managing "unknown" files, as well as offering the sort of scan-time improvements illustrated above.

Quorum uses reputation information to help guard against new and unknown threats and by building a database of Norton Community users it can help predict how safe a file is and therefore anticipate the arrival of potentially harmful data. It's also possible to view the trust level, resource usage and discovery date of everything running on your system, and by selecting a file you're provided with more details on its origins and activity.

System Insight is another useful tool and provides an overview of recent activity including downloads, scans, installed programs and threat detections to help more advanced users view and interpret recent activity and the correlation between this information, impact on performance and the emergence of threats. It's also possible to view CPU and memory performance graphs and identify which programs are responsible for highest usage, allowing users to detect and diagnose resource-hogs and potential reasons for reduced performance.

Admittedly these tools may not appeal to all users but Norton does a great job of making this wealth of information as accessible and easy to interpret as possible, and those who do appreciate having the tools available to do a bit of detective work will find them invaluable.

Norton AntiVirus 2010 is an excellent progression for the series, offering performance improvements, peace of mind and being very easy to use. The only thing that has prevented it from getting a higher score here is the price. At ?39.99 it costs around the same as more comprehensive security suites on offer from rivals, and most would consider this a lot to pay for an "antivirus-only" product.

In comparison to Norton Internet Security 2010, which is only ?10 more, NAV omits a firewall, identity protection, anti-spam and security for home and wireless networking, so in this light we'd be inclined to recommend spending a bit extra on the more comprehensive suite, which also offers the benefits of all of these new features.

Verdict:
Norton AntiVirus 2010 represents a significant step forward for home security, offering users an unprecedented amount of information and diagnostic tools to make it easier than ever to detect and manage threats and impact on system performance. Fast scan times, low system overheads and an intuitive and approachable new interface offer extra appeal and as such it's difficult to think of a more capable "antivirus" product on the market.

Tags: Software PC software Viruses And Malware Symantec Norton Norton AntiVirus 2010 Security software Norton AntiVirus 2010

Norton AntiVirus 2010 - PC originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:09:36 +0100