Christian Forums and Message Board

Quote from: LivingbyFaith61 on Wed Feb 08, 2012 - 00:01:43

I've used many over the years, both McAfee & Norton slowed my system down, so I started using Avast, which did a very good job for several years now. I didn't like AVG until they introduced the 2012 version...the Security Suite version is pretty good. Have used MS Security Essentials but not long enough to make an opinion about it. Currently I am using ESET Smart Security...it is light on the system and doesn't slow you down...but I had to buy it online for about $30.
If I had to use one of the free versions I would go back to Avast. And like others here, I have used Linux (Mint, Vector, Ubuntu, Puppy) and they all were without problems.

Why would you pay $30 for ESET Smart Security when Avast is free?
Did something make you think it is better?

I chose to purchase ESET Smart Security because it provides total security for email, web, malware, etc., and does not slow down your computer. The free version of Avast only protects against viruses and spyware, but I was using the Avast Pro version which I had paid about $30 for it as well. Nothing wrong with just using the free versions of AVG or Avast...I would recommend them to anyone...but if you want total protection (firewall, email scan, web scan, anti-spyware, anti-spam protection and such you really need one of the upper level versions of those programs. I was really impressed with AVG's Internet Security 2012 but chose ESET because I got it at a cheaper price.

On my ubuntu system I am not worried about antivirus protection.

I might rather have viruses than the Unity desktop...  Not sure which is worse.  (xfce4 user here)

nada

It's really sad that there are this many pages of people talking about anti-virus software on here when it's SO easy not to get them in the first place.

Simply use an operating system that doesn't grant system priveladges to it's user accounts.  It's been almost 15 years since Win98 came out and Microsoft STILL hasn't fixed this problem.  Simply don't allow the user (that's you) to have write access to system files and viruses are a non issue.  Mac figured that out early and it's taken years for the first real mac malware to show up.  I once got a virus on my linux machine, it asked me for a password and told me exactly what it wanted to do before it ran.  (so I deleted it)  It's a simple fix, but Microsoft makes too much money on security tools to fix the problem.  They'd just rather take your money for "protection," than make a secure system.

Mac virii exist, and will become more prevalent as market share increases (especially since the processor technology change).  Not sure why people buy Macs anymore, given the comparative price.  Linux is great for some, but there are still issues to work out.  It isn't immune to malware, either.  (Look at Ubuntu with adware by default.)

Norton and McAffee have been bloated beyond usefulness about as long as I can remember.  I quit using AVG when it couldn't get rid of some things it found.  Avast free is great, and I've never an issue using clam-based systems in *nix.  Spybot S&D is also useful as an addition.