pctoolbox.co.uk

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
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
Anti-Rootkit
Anti-Virus
Task Scheduler
Automatic Updater
P2P and Instant Messenger Shield
Web Shield
Virus Chest (Known as Vault on AVG)
Network Shield/Identity Protection
Anti-Spam
Firewall
Anti-Malware
Available to buy from Brandstar?
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.

The last day of each month this year we will be writing a short post with our “Site of the Month” suggestion, with a brief explanation of why we like the site so much This can vary from it being a fantastic design to useful content to something just very different!

This month the site is Xpanity, with social networking becoming bigger and bigger on the web these days this is yet another way to communicate with new people while browsing the web. This tool allows you to chat in real time with people viewing the same web page as you.

I have to say we haven’t tried the tool out yet, but plan to soon. It is a interesting idea with lots of potential, if you decide to have a play with it then let us know what you think!

The reason for it being our Site of the Month? The design is great, clean, crisp, colourful and I love the logo! The content (or in this case, the tool) has huge potential and I would certainly say it is different!

If you have any suggestions for our site of the month then let us have them