Why are some AV apps more popular?

I've recently changed to McAfee anti-virus (last Wednesday) & it is a great improvement over the Norton I had previously. I had Bullguard before that. Norton is a good AV but I found that it had a few problems:

1/ It is very difficult to uninstall completely, you have to search for it, (& requires a special tool).

2/ Its updating routines are intrusive & high maintenance (McAfee updates daily & silently).

3/ It is far more of a resource hog than anything else I have ever used as AV & slowed my laptop down a bit.

4/ It would only load in the systems tray 4-5 minutes after initial boot (McAfee beats my other anti-malware apps)!

5/ It would sometimes claim that it was not connected online properly & refused to display the 'Threat Explorer'.

6/ The only way it claims you can repair Norton is to totally uninstall it & make a clean install. This process can take hours & is extremely arduous.

7/ The CARNY_RIDE 'faux' virus problem was never solved & the scan would hang looking for this supposed virus & not do a proper scan. Check the Symantec/Norton site for the ongoing discussion about this bug that Symantec (Norton) isn't admitting to.

I have also been called all sorts of unpleasant names for daring to mention that I am now using McAfee. Many people seem to really hate it as AV & doubt its efficacy.

However, it is highly recommended by http://www.av-comparatives.org/home & I am wondering what all of the vitriol & vehemence is about?

It seems fine to me so far anyway. My brother is a software engineer & he uses McAfee as well (he doesn't like Norton though). It is worth pointing out that both McAfee & Norton are highly rated in this assessment.

It makes interesting reading.

They test the following AVs:

avast! Professional Edition 4.8
AVG Anti-Virus 8.0
AVIRA AntiVir Premium 8.2
BitDefender Antivirus 2009
Command Anti-Malware 5.0.8 (NEW)
eScan Anti-Virus 10
ESET NOD32 Anti-Virus 3.0
F-Secure Anti-Virus 2009
G DATA AntiVirus 2009


Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009
Kingsoft Antivirus 2009 (NEW)
McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009
Microsoft Live OneCare 2.5
Norman Antivirus & Anti-Spyware 7.10
Sophos Anti-Virus 7.6.4
Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 2009
TrustPort Antivirus 2.8


If you click on the link where it says: 'The following products are tested in the current main comparatives:'

& then click on: Report (PDF - english) you can read the report. You may need the Adobe reader plug-in if you don't already have it.

 

Wow, this topic went down like a lead balloon!

 

Hi Davezilla,

Can we hear a thud boys and girls?

How about making it a poll? What you use and a sentence or two as to why.

And, look, here's the very first post!!!

"I use whatever is the best of the freebies. I'm now using Avast! "

 

Can we hear a thud boys and girls?

I think it's too late doctor....there's nothing we can do....even if it survives it will be a vegetable...


Interestingly French people (my brother lives in France) tell me Avast has a bit of a bad reputation over there & they tend to prefer AVG as freeware AV.

 

Hi Arie,

I knew there had to be one somewhere.