Avast acquires AVG for $1.3 billion

[Trixanity]

A bit off-topic but I saw Bitdefender being recommended. If you use Windows 10, I'd stay away from the Free version. The client hasn't been updated since 2014 (I believe) and is therefore not fully compatible which has caused problems for some users and is not recommended by Bitdefender (official statement) otherwise carry on  Just a little PSA. They have said they're working on a new free version but that was shortly after Windows 10 launched I think and it was around that time that people noted the compatibility issues and non-working features.

[dalekphalm]

3 hours ago, Trixanity said:

A bit off-topic but I saw Bitdefender being recommended. If you use Windows 10, I'd stay away from the Free version. The client hasn't been updated since 2014 (I believe) and is therefore not fully compatible which has caused problems for some users and is not recommended by Bitdefender (official statement) otherwise carry on  Just a little PSA. They have said they're working on a new free version but that was shortly after Windows 10 launched I think and it was around that time that people noted the compatibility issues and non-working features.

I would never recommend using the free version of BitDefender for a modern system. BitDefender is great for their Paid version.

 

Though FYI the free version is one of the best you can get for Windows XP. Extremely light on resources, won't bug you at all, and solid scanning/detection.

[Trixanity]

4 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I would never recommend using the free version of BitDefender for a modern system. BitDefender is great for their Paid version.

 

Though FYI the free version is one of the best you can get for Windows XP. Extremely light on resources, won't bug you at all, and solid scanning/detection.

Yeah, I'm only talking about the free version - I want to make that very clear. The paid version is massively different now as it's constantly updated and is highly recommended by a lot of different sources.

 

I think the free one still gets definition updates but not anything more than that and it doesn't help with the compatibility issues on Windows 10. I just wanted to inform users of that as Bitdefender frequently scores well which leads people to go to the Bitdefender website and just get the free version and many recommend the free version still despite it being discontinued. So when talking about security, I wanted to get that out there so one wouldn't get a false sense of security with a reputedly good (and free) piece of software.

 

As I mentioned, they did say they would make a new free version of their security software but it's been a while without any news on that, so I'm not sure if it's still a thing or they've abandoned it.

[dalekphalm]

14 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

Yeah, I'm only talking about the free version - I want to make that very clear. The paid version is massively different now as it's constantly updated and is highly recommended by a lot of different sources.

 

I think the free one still gets definition updates but not anything more than that and it doesn't help with the compatibility issues on Windows 10. I just wanted to inform users of that as Bitdefender frequently scores well which leads people to go to the Bitdefender website and just get the free version and many recommend the free version still despite it being discontinued. So when talking about security, I wanted to get that out there so one wouldn't get a false sense of security with a reputedly good (and free) piece of software.

 

As I mentioned, they did say they would make a new free version of their security software but it's been a while without any news on that, so I'm not sure if it's still a thing or they've abandoned it.

100% agree on all fronts

[kuddlesworth9419]

Isn't anti-virus software a thing of the past. I mean we already have Windows Defender which is more than enough for those who know what they are doing.

[Tieox]

I still install AVG Free on XP systems as it seems MSE no longer supports XP.  it suits those customers well enough until they can get a more modern system, slowly getting them all to Windows 7 machines, which for just checking email, and watching iPlayer is enough.

 

 

[dalekphalm]

3 hours ago, kuddlesworth9419 said:

Isn't anti-virus software a thing of the past. I mean we already have Windows Defender which is more than enough for those who know what they are doing.

Well... Windows Defender IS anti-virus software, so there's that

 

But also, the independent AV tests consistently place other AV's above Defender. It's not terrible, but it's not nearly as good as some of the alternatives.

 

It's alright for people who never go to bad sites or sketchy parts of the web, and never get spam.

 

I personally use it with MalwareBytes, but I cannot fault anyone who uses something else.

3 hours ago, Kierax said:

I still install AVG Free on XP systems as it seems MSE no longer supports XP.  it suits those customers well enough until they can get a more modern system, slowly getting them all to Windows 7 machines, which for just checking email, and watching iPlayer is enough.

 

 

MSE never officially supported XP, as far as I recall, but you could install it once upon a time. Now a days, MSE is Windows 7 only (Since Windows Defender in 8+ includes MSE as part of the core programming).

 

I'd personally recommend swapping out the free version of AVG for the free version of BitDefender. Less annoying nagging and popups. Less components that no one uses anyway. And it's extremely light weight. It's great for an AV that just sits there quietly not bugging you or hogging resources, unless you have a virus.

[Tieox]

I custom install AVG and so far the few users on those XP systems have not had major popup issues.  Will give Bitdefender a look though cheers. 

[demonix00]

To be honest, Microsoft should have gone after avast since they're both good at ramming their software down your throats without user approval (I did just get the 2016 version of avast rammed down my throat without any request to actually install it).

 

On the other hand, if they decide to get rid of that placebo called an anti-virus called AVG and replace it with their own software nothing of importance would have been lost.