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Alwil is a Czech Republic security vendor that has been quietly producing Avast Antivirus for many years. There are two versions, Avast Antivirus Home edition, which is free and simplified, and Avast Antivirus Professional edition, which is paid and includes more advanced settings as well as additional features. In general, we were pleased with both editions and think the Home edition is better than AVG Anti-virus 7.5. However, Avast lacks some important tools found in other antivirus products, such as antirootkit protection, antispyware, and antiphishing protection, leaving you vulnerable in these areas. Also, the home edition runs in the 60-day trial mode until you register the product, a registration that will have to be renewed each year afterward.
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This year, Panda offers two distinct antivirus products. To compare with other products tested and reviewed by CNET this year, we chose the Panda Antivirus 2008. A second product, Panda Antivirus plus Firewall 2008 was not reviewed. The $39.95 price for a three-user license is at the low end, which is good. However, when compared with the also economical BitDefender Antivirus 2008, Panda comes up short, lacking some features and, more importantly, similar test results. Panda is slower and is mostly unrated in independent, third-party antivirus test results. If you're looking for economy, chose BitDefender. If you're looking for the best antivirus product for 2008, we recommend Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2008, our Editors' Choice.
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With familiar drop-down menus, helpful wizards, and a Web-like Home screen, Panda Antivirus Platinum 7.0 is sure to please antivirus beginners. Like its competitors, Panda scans incoming and outgoing mail for viruses, prevents malicious Visual Basic and JavaScript files from running amok, and updates its virus definitions via the Internet. Version 7.0 also features a personal firewall to prevent Internet interlopers from accessing your computer, a tool found in McAfee VirusScan 7.0 but not Norton AntiVirus 2003. Yet, Panda falls short on its virus-detection skills and telephone technical support, and it's more expensive than its competitors. Nevertheless, current Platinum 6.0 users will want to upgrade for the improved interface and new firewall, but everyone else should opt for either McAfee or Norton.
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Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 7.1 Professional Single Edition is a dependable and unobtrusive virus slayer that's a real bargain when compared with market giants McAfee VirusScan 2006 and Norton AntiVirus 2006. For true penny-pinchers, Grisoft offers AVG 7.1 Free Edition, which is a good, if limited, product. And Grisoft's two-year license for the AVG Anti-Virus 7.1 Professional Single Edition costs just $38.95--less expensive than a single-year license for McAfee or Norton. If you do buy it, however, you'll still need to purchase antispyware software and a firewall for total security. Thus, our recommendation for the best all-around antivirus product remains either Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security or F-Secure Internet Security.
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Designed for desktop PCs running on small to medium-size networks, F-Secure Anti-Virus Client Security (AVCS) is an impressive antivirus package and is far superior to F-Secure Anti-Virus 2003 for Windows, the company's single-user application, in both features and functionality. AVCS even runs well on laptops unplugged from corporate LANs. F-Secure deserves praise for adding a firewall to AVCS, an essential security feature not found in Sophos Anti-Virus 3.7, Norton AntiVirus 2004 Professional (NAVP), or McAfee VirusScan Professional 8.0 (MVP). AVCS is priced at $31.92 per user with a minimum of 100 user licenses, but home users and those in small offices can find a similar level of protection in Trend Micro's PC-cillin 2004.
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With antivirus apps, there's always a fine line between elegant simplicity and a frustrating lack of features. F-Secure Anti-Virus Personal Edition tends toward the latter, offering a robust virus-detection engine but lacking the e-mail interception and scheduling features required to make this an outstanding virus-killing product. We like the ease and tough protection we found in McAfee VirusScan 7.0 or Norton AntiVirus 2003 better.
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Norton AntiVirus (NAV) 2004 debuts with a promising pedigree. Previous versions have consistently led the antivirus pack in security innovations, being the first, for example, to scan instant-messaging attachments as well as inbound and outbound e-mail. The program routinely receives high marks from independent antivirus testing laboratories. Its interface is easy for beginners to navigate, yet it offers advanced users plenty of scanning options. The 2004 version continues the traditions (including some we don't like, namely the fee-based phone support), but it adds an imperfect antispyware feature. NAV 2004 is a solid program for first-time antivirus users, but its halfhearted enhancements make it a questionable $30 upgrade for existing users.
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Norton AntiVirus 2004 Professional (NAVP) debuts with a promising pedigree. Previous versions have consistently led the antivirus pack in security innovations, being the first, for example, to scan instant-messaging attachments as well as inbound and outbound e-mail. The program routinely receives high marks from independent antivirus testing laboratories. Its interface is easy for beginners to navigate, yet it offers advanced users plenty of scanning options. The 2004 version continues the tradition (including some we don't like, namely, the fee-based phone support), but it adds an imperfect antispyware feature and licenses for two PCs. NAVP 2004 is a solid program for home offices, but its half-hearted enhancements make it a questionable $30 upgrade for existing users.
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Central Command's Vexira Antivirus is a middle-tier antivirus app, falling halfway between the bare-bones simplicity of the $25 Computer Associates' eTrust EZ Antivirus 6.1 and the full-featured slickness of the $50 McAfee VirusScan 7.0, Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 2003, and Trend Micro's PC-cillin 2003. Like EZ Antivirus, Vexira treads lightly on disk space and system resources. Vexira also includes free phone support, something you won't get with the McAfee/Norton/PC-cillin crowd. But it lacks Norton's handy wizards and VirusScan's and PC-cillin's integrated firewalls. More important, its scanning speed is very slow. Given its feature set, Vexira's $34.95 price sounds about right, but its annual $29.95 license renewal fee for antivirus updates is pricey.
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You'd be hard-pressed to find a better-looking desktop replacement notebook--or one with better multimedia features--than Acer's lightning-fast, long-lasting, black-and-silver Aspire 2000. The Aspire 2000 offers a 15.4-inch wide-screen display, superior sound, and unique Arcade software that lets you play DVD movies and audio CDs without the need to boot Windows. Alas, Acer's designers may have concentrated just a bit too much on fun: the keyboard is placed so far toward the screen that it is difficult to type unless the notebook sits in your lap; the nonstandard editing-key layout may peeve touch typists; and the touchpad buttons are overly stiff and hard to reach. If those relatively minor ergonomic flaws don't bother you, then this is one heck of a machine.
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