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Scot Finnie finally decides on an antivirus solution...

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JavaJones:
I could have sworn Scot Finnie's lengthy search for his ideal antivirus app had been discussed here before - in fact I remember commenting on his odd pickiness on certain criteria - but I can't seem to find the previous thread with a search. Must be SMF's broken search function. :P

Anyway, here's a snippet from his latest newsletter where he announces his "best antivirus app of 2006":

For those of you coming late to this party, over the last six months or so the newsletter has pursued an ongoing series on alternative antivirus packages. Back in December 2005 I wrote that I'd given up on Norton Antivirus and had been testing alternative antivirus utilities since the summer of 2005.

During the last year of testing, I've examined a wide range of antivirus product, and I've explored the features and options of many others. Products tested during this period include Avast 4.6 free and 4.7 Pro, AVG 7.1 Pro and Network Editions, BitDefender 9 Standard and 10 RC1, CA EZ Antivirus and eTrust Antivirus r8, F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006 and Internet Security 2006, Kaspersky 5 and 6, Nod32 2.5, Panda Titanium 2006 and Platinum 2006, and ZoneAlarm Antivirus. I've considered the features and specs of at least a dozen other products and rejected them because something didn't meet my ideal antivirus criteria.
--- End quote ---

Interestingly in the end it came down to AVG, F-Secure, and Nod32. Read his August Newsletter for his conclusions. Lots of other good info in this and his other newsletters too.

- Oshyan

mouser:
Great reading, and worth taking seriously.

Just to cut to the chase for those that want to know which one he decided on:

SpoilerBottom line: This is the one running on my main PC. F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006 offers the best mix of solid protection, usability, full e-mail support, performance, small memory footprint, and reliable operation.

urlwolf:
Great, F-Secure is the one I use.

JavaJones:
I thought the fact that AVG was in his top 3 to be very interesting. It's particularly nice that there's a free version. :D His comments about AVG's questionable detection rate vs. other competitors were interesting too in that they called the standard antivirus tests themselves into question a bit. I've always wondered about the accuracy and reliability of those tests too and wished there were better, broader tests out there, with the results available free. Why there is no such resource yet I don't know!

- Oshyan

zridling:
When I unsubscribed from Scot's Newsletter this week, he sent a invitation asking why. So I told him it was because of (a) his crossover to the dark side (Mac), and all the Mac content he's adding to his newsletters, along with (b) his content has been unoriginal and dated for the past year, as I had already read it all elsewhere online, and (c) the newsletter just hasn't been the same since he stopped working full-time on it. He shot this back:

What Mac content? Geez. I have people complaining about how much Vista content I'm doing. There's so little Mac content that if you're unsubscribing for that, you're kidding yourself. Zaine, I've been working full time all along. I never stopped working full-time. The only thing I announced that I changed jobs. I moved from TechWeb and Informationweek to Computerworld. ALL my content is original. Every scrap. There has been no change there. I used to put some of it up on InformationWeek and TechWeb in advance too.

Whatever, Zaine.
___________________________
That hurt my feelings.  :'(   :D

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