Is avast antivirus as good as AVG, NOD32, Norton, PC-Cillin and others?

I downloaded avast antivirus home edition for my new laptop last month after Norton 2005 trial period expired, avast home edition seems to be a good antivirus, it fasts at updating, it doesn't slow Windows XP SP2 down, I love its spinning ball and I'm impressed with its abilities so I tend to buy avast professional. But it seems that avast is a lesser known antivirus when compared to AVG, NOD32, Norton, PC-Cillin so is it good as others antivirus programs?

Thanks for all comments.

 

Well I use it myself too and I give it a thumbs up. Its an antivirus program that is not known by many, but if you like it, buy it.

 

As long as you are happy and you feel protected doing your stuff online then use it. Avast is making a name for itself and is one of the popular choices amongst the free av users.

 

I like it too.
Latest version (4.5) manages to check my e-mail without any configuration change to my The Bat! mail client, even using K9 as a spamfilter mail proxy. I was really impressed when I discovered it. Perhaps no big deal for most Outlook (Express) users who take integration with OE for granted, but I am pretty pleased. I suppose it is working too, because Avast catches the Plexus worms that my clamav seem to forget to clean on my mailserver.

 

Well avast! is just gaining popularity. Latest version is really state of the art piece of software. Alwil doesn't use so aggressive advertising as Norton does,thats why it's not so well known. But Home Edition is free (very good),and satisfied users usually recommend it to others.
It's a slow but effective method.
And i belive it's better known than AVG,but thats just my opinion.

 

I use Avast! and I think its excellent, I know at a popular tech site I belong Avast! is fast becoming an AV of choice

You have people like RejZoR keeping ALWIL on its toes, how can you beat that

 

i did a test with 40 mb of virii
and kaspesky drweb and avast make the best results

nod32 the worse

 

@mantra
please give detailed reports of your test.
That will enable users to draw certain deeper conclusions like what AV performs best against new viruses, which one removes trojans, and which is suited for low end applications...

Didn't you test KAV?

 

I'm using extendia security suite, and It really seems like one of the best out there, once everything is tweaked, you can't beat it.....it uses kaspersky engine and another type of detection engiune called Rav so if you want one of the best for -40$USD get it!!!!there are some good threads about the extendia AV posted here. Fr Steve

 

I tried avast briefly and quickly changed back to outpost.

Jimbob

 

Isn't avast an antivirus and Outpost a firewall?

My setup is NOD32 and Kerio 2.1.5 ^_^

 

Sorry, yes your right, getting a bit late, i'm going to sleep.

Jimbob

 

I'm getting confused, change around so often. I changed my virus scanner from norton, trying a few as I went and found McAfee to be the best for my liking in the end along with their firewall.

Jimbob

 

I dumped Norton and AVG and now run Avast Home. Couldn't be happier so far. It works well for me and until things change to make me dissatisfied, I will stay with it.

 

the test i did 6 mouths ago
and i tested almost every av
the best score
kaspersky kav
Drweb
avast
norton
f-prot
nod32

i haven't the log...sorry

 

Mantra,

If you tested almost every AV out there, then did you test Rising AV, MKS_Vir/ArcaVir and any of the so many KAV based scanners like GDATA/Extendia AVK/Pro, eScan, F-Secure etc.?

BTW, here in India, I've seen people who love AVG so much that they actually BOUGHT the Pro edition. Norton is losing its popularity bit by bit and avast! has just started making ground here.

Here in India, McAfee and Norton are increasingly becoming unpopular because the resellers do not sell any upgrades, so its like paying USD 49.95 every year. That's why they stick to Avast! and AVG

Kaspersky is very scarcely available here and eScan's interface is not as good as one would expect. So in the end, we only have the free scanners.

But Avast! is very good, no doubt.

Regards,
Firecat

To no13,

Which AV do you use currently? And sorry if I am talking too much, its great to be back after a hard disk crash and hardware problems.