Interesting AntiVirus Information:

http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/09/04/and-the-best-antivirus-is/

As I use NOD32 as my antivirus on my 3 computers at home I was very interested in the above link. Nope, NOD32 wasn't the best antivirus, but it certainly was sitting ahead of some of the biggie programs (ie McAfee and Norton's). It was also shown as better than most of the free versions out there. But then you would expect that something that is free is not quite as good as something someone pays for. When I purchased the NOD32 I was able to get my 3 computers covered for a price of approximately half what Norton's would cost for 1 computer. I have found NOD32 to be effective and sure doesn't appear to be the memory hog that I found Symantec Norton's to be.

The NOD32 did float to the top in the heuristic testing. Heuristic testing is extremely important because that is what gives an Antivirus the ability to catch a virus even it is not in the database. That certainly pleased me.

One thing that I found quite interesting was AOL's free entry in the list (ie Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.299). It was tied for the top spot. The fact that this program is supplied by AOL free to anyone is good news for computer people. You do not have to be running AOL systems to download and use the software. The program is put together by Kaspersky antivirus (which is sitting at the top of the heap of the antivirus programs). So it is no wonder the AOL version is getting high marks.

I did go to the link in the above story for the AOL version and found it was very easy to acquire the program.

http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp

You do need to supply a valid email address and that is about it. The email address is used by AOL to send you the activation code for the software. So essentially you type in your email address, retrieve the automatic reply and then download/install the software inserting the activation code when prompted.

I have not installed the program on any of my programs as I said I use the NOD32 on all 3 computers. However, when the susbscription runs out, I certainly may be tempted to try out the AOL software on at least 1 computer. Of course I'll probably watch the net for any information on how the software is doing after a few months of use in the wild. Hopefully AOL (Kaspersky) will keep it updated and free for the masses.