Today we’re doing our fourth Anti-Virus software comparison. Today we’re looking at Award Winning AVG Internet Security and avast! Professional Edition. Now a lot of you will be sitting there thinking, ‘I’ve never heard of avast!’. avast! are another ‘smaller’ Anti-Virus software company which is snapping at the heals of the ‘Big Three’, AVG, Norton and McAfee. For more about avast! check out their website! The comparison will involve an overview of the features each package has and then at the end we’ll tell you which we think is better through our rating system. Our ratings are worked out by the amount of ticks the product has. Further points are awarded for faster download, simpler/better installation and cheaper price.
| Feature |  |
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| Download Time |
Very Fast | Fast |
| Installation | Simple and of average length. However, unlike AVG you still have a lot of configuration to do. | Takes an average length of time. Quite extensive and helps you set up the basic features of the software. |
| Anti-Spyware |  |
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| Anti-Rootkit | |
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| Anti-Virus | |
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| Task Scheduler | |
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| Automatic Updater |
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| P2P and Instant Messenger Shield |
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| Web Shield |
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| Virus Chest (Known as Vault on AVG) |
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| Network Shield/Identity Protection | |
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| Anti-Spam |  |
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| Firewall |
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| Anti-Malware | |
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| Available to buy from Brandstar? |
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| RRP | £24.95 (1 year) | £39.14 (1 year) |
| Overall Rating | 11 out of 16 | 14 out of 16 |
Overall AVG Internet Security is the better software by far, however, it is almost £15 more. I would say that spending that extra £15 is worth it, especially if you look at the tools/features that you get with AVG compared to avast! I would say avast! has loads of potential but it the product needs to be far more extensive to warrant a purchase. After all, some of the features they’re missing out on are pretty basic, necessities for any Anti-Virus software. avast! has a really cool interface (see picture), however it isn’t that easy to find you way around.
