Emsisoft: ALL free AVs (except BD Free) try to install PUPs on your PC

So be it;

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/the-symantec-norton-thread.372604/

 

Half correct Avira Safesearch was self-development not by ASK LLC
but they use their search engine

 

Many interesting comments but generally, much heat, little light.

Vendors of free real-time AVs who include opt-out checkboxes for other applications in their installers (a practice which I personally don't like) are easy targets for vendors who don't provide a free real-time AV product.
So while do I have great respect for Emsisoft, I would counsel them to stick to marketing to their strengths rather than appearing to be attempting to tar their opposition with a single PUP-perveying brush.

The term PUP is neither capable of, nor was it coined with the the intention of, being useful in determining the value of a particular program to an individual user.
e.g. my Windows 7 laptop came "bundled" with 'MS Office 2010 Starter', something I have no intention of ever using but which constantly reminded me of its presence.
Any program is "potentially unwanted". One man's foistware is anothers favourite application.

Lastly, a slightly humorous response to Mr Vlcek's earlier comments about Chrome & Dropbox.

My 2 most recent attempts to install either of these programs have resulted in failure due to hardware incompatibility. Seems old hardware is protecting me from these PUPs, even if Avast isn't.

Cheers everyone.

 

Overworking with crash & burn, sorry! Very little sleep.

Thanks for the mentalist, though, will check it out as soon as I finish The Walking Dead.