Kaspersky Antivirus and Internet Security 2011 Final

Wow. Looks like Kaspersky has a lot of quality problems. Are they using their customers like Quality Assurance Dept. ?

 

and stable too

 

Nope.
Things have been tested by a group. Partly selected and partly it was an open beta

 

While I think that they should've fixed the Photo Viewer freeze and GUI corruption bugs before releasing CF1, I never encountered any bugs with CF1 even before patch B (photo viewer freeze was Win7 only). And I've not really even heard about those other issues than the ones I already listed.

I don't think they're using their users to assure their products quality, but they do have an annoying habit of rushing their initial releases and patching them later.

 

Yes, their lack of quality lately has been causing me grief because I have to support someone who keeps thinking something's wrong with their computer...and renewal time is coming up in another month or so.

I also find it humourous that with a version scheme like "11.0.1.400" they have to release "a" and "b" patches, not just new build numbers...

 

Perhaps because its not a new build?

 

I 'a' and 'b' some kind of "delta" patches from the original build ?

 

Even with patch b still problems. 2010 runs way better and does not cause any problems for me.

 

Same here, sadly IMO Kaspersky are about to take the wrong path (which many Kaspersky fans blamed and bashed Norton for years ago). Its getting bloated (again IMO) and they release unfinished products where people have to wait for patches and thereafter new patches to make them stable. I hope this is just a d-tour so they soon will turn back and release the quality products which made them so popular

 

As of now, there is no match between the quality of engineering exhibited by Norton when compared to that of current Kaspersky. The first signs of trouble was when the marketing decided to release the 2011 range without any option to do a custom install. Eset, Kaspersky and BitDefender are few products that were very good at one point, but engineering issues are making them loose users.

 

Kaspersky released their 2011 version in the middle of 2010 - in June . The marketing release was also very poor . They kind of released something in a hurry just to show the world they have new FUNNY and MODERN feautures other products already have . Kaspersky are big vendor and of course they compete mainly with other big vendors . However they seemed to be a bit behind when it came to new feautures and they were in a hurry to release 2011 - it seems unpolished . I liked Kaspersky versions 5 and 6 and somehow 7 . Later versions are IMO bloated - way too many featues , many options , not good default configuration ...

 

Agreed. BTW: First release was finalized on may 7th, it's even earlier that one could imagine.

In my own point of view, Kaspersky are trying too hard to keep up with the larger vendors - particulary Symantec. And they are doing it really wrong.
I can't believe that they released software so unrefined. It's not the beta testers fault, there were reports, dumps and feedback...

I own a couple of licenses and I have moved on, the current version has many freezes and CPU spikes that it's not tolerable in my main system.
Of course, KL and fanbase will say: "It's your config, you are doing it wrong.", give a read on the forums and notice how many are having issues. If you never acknowledge that there are issues, you will never be able to solve them.
I used to be a really big fan of Kaspersky and if they fix their issues I would return, but so far there's not much hope and with the amount of free quality products available, paying for being a beta tester is not such a bright idea.

Also to be fair I want to note that PURE is better managed, it's based on a more stable codebase (KIS 2010) and the upcoming refresh will have a superb UI.
Maybe they took notice of the KIS/KAV 2011 mistakes. Who knows.

Edit: Just read, CF2 testing is expected to begin next week. We'll see how it improves.

 

Features/products such as?

 

While I've personally had no problems with KIS release versions (been using them since version 6), I can see some people having issues (and as a beta tester I've seen how KL rushes their releases and patches them later).

I think that if KL starts to lose too many customers they'll improve their products and test them well just like they tested earlier versions. We'll see though.

 

Feature such as Kaspersky Security Network . Their biggest competitors such as Panda,Symantec,McAfee already had cloud(s) . This is something "modern" and a big player such as Kaspersky can't miss it .

Kaspersky's biggest competitor when it comes to resourses is Symantec and at the end of 2010 Norton already had cloud , McAfee and Panda had even earlier . Other vendors , too . So it was time . However , Kaspersky seemed to be a in rush.

New versions are important , not new numbers in the version

 

Kaspersky needs to make a new version because the 2011 is bloat-ware ....

So far 132 samples bypassed Kaspersky 2011.

If you want a real security suite with no BS go get your self

Norton Internet Security 2011
or
G Data Internet Security 2011

 

You've made it sound in your previous post as if Kaspersky is inferior on all fronts and is playing catch-up with other vendors in terms of features.

While KIS may be behind compared to some vendors when it comes to implementation of Cloud protection features (v8 (from year 2008 ) had Kaspersky security network, v9/v2010 (from 2009) had Cloud detection), it definitely has other security features some other vendors don't.
-Rarely any sec. suites have a full blown and user friendly HIPS integrated.
-Rarely any sec. suites have sandboxing technologies which allow you to run unknown programs.
-Rarely any sec. suites have Online banking mode which prevents tampering with browsers memory from malicious programs already on the system.
-On top of that a functional Virtual keyboard which makes it almost impossible to capture personal logins/data.
-None have all of the above in a single package.
Cloud protection has become "popular" rather quickly, so it's only natural it's marketed over and over again in the product. Every vendor does such marketing gimmickry.
When you put down the list of security features KIS has (all marketing aside), it easily comes on top as the most complex/feature rich security suite. Although it does come at a price, being buggy and all that.
I've tried to avoid a vs b as much as possible, and I emphasize that I've only compared the existence of security-related features (HIPS, behavior blockers etc. not reg cleaners/defraggers etc. in sec. suites), not their necessity and/or efficiency. It's entirely your choice to use what you want.

 

No , I didn't mean to . I just said that while their competition was already advanced in such a "fashionable" and "modern" technology , Kaspersky was behind and they were obviously in hurry to release the 2011 product before year 2010 has even reached its middle . The fact that they released version 2011 so early in 2010 - before the year has reached half , explains everything.

You didn't need to post such a big post .

 

2011 has come out not much earlier than the previous versions of KIS or KAV...usually May to to July is the date that their marketing team look to get the product to the public (with the development of the next version already well underway I believe).

 

Yes, it is a tendency to release unfinished software with little quality assurance compared with the size and complexity of the application.

@3x0gR13N: It's not an excuse to claim that the application is very complex so it will be buggy because of that.
That sounds more like feature creep and overengineering.

If the application grows and branches then the testing and quality assurance department should cope or expand. This implies an investment, but given the size and reputation of Kaspersky Lab, it shouldn't be a problem. After all, they have CMMI lvl 5 among other certifications (which raises the question, why they don't notice that this is a bad practice? - this has a high risk of impacting sales and customer losses).

Even more, with the advent of free quality solutions, a paid provider has to step up the game. And for KL it seems that the quality is going down by each release of KIS/KAV.

It almost seems like they keep two lines: the stable and refined (2010 in this case) and the bleeding edge that needs refinements (2011). It's a common recommendation in the forums to revert to 2010 while the new issues are solved.

A damaged reputation is harder to repair than anything else. Just ask Symantec.

 

So they released v2011 when they did because of Cloud protection? I doubt it. v2010 had cloud protection as well, so nothing new on the plate. We can't gauge how effective it was compared to others tho, but that's a different story.

@drakester
It's natural for a complex and feature-rich application to have more underlying issues than a simpler one, given that all other circumstances are equal; most notably the pressure of imminent release date closing in fast that every company has imposed on its developers.
(@drakester&@3GUSER)A rich feature set compared to other vendors doesn't guarantee good sales (otherwise I'm certain Kaspersky would take their time releasing it, even if they've made additional investments in QA), hence why marketing often comes to play. Marketing probably have statistics of when and where (i.e which countries) does the product best sell. Have a new version ready by the time non-PC savvy people (majority of users) are most willing to open their wallets, ship the product in a shiny new box and slap on some marketing and you'll have rather good sales even if the product is remotely stable (you have to remember that not all users experience issues mentioned during testing or whenever). They're trying to bring advanced features to the masses while trying to profit as much as possible.
v2011 had a bumpy road, I can agree with that. It effectively had 2 weeks of public testing before TR was signed (a lot more was spent on internal testing). However, I'd rather wait till a stable release is issued (CF2 or w/e) or use workarounds for problems than switch to a vendor that grabs my hand every time I walk across the street or forcefully turns on traction control in my Ferrari. Some may not, hence why such a "stunt" with unpolished releases can be pulled only once.

 

Good insight 3x0gR13N, thanks.
I'm a software developer with several years of experience and I know the release date pressure first-hand.

I also have dealt with the perils of quality control but I have learned from experience that it can be mitigated by calling the right decisions at the right time and knowing your team's boundaries and limits along with being realist on the compromises you make.

This matter seems to be rooted in marketing's pressure than anything else.
The removal of custom install and other annoyances are evidences of it.

I hope this sort of "stunts" stop happening with the next version, I still have several licenses of Kaspersky under my name.
In my own opinion Kaspersky needs a "tuneup" release, no major features, just solid improvements and optimizations.

 

I think that the massive amount of features and possible configuration options is the most important thing of KIS for most advanced users. I wouldn't use it if it wouldn't have a sandbox, a very strong, silent and configurable HIPS and if all the components wouldn't be configurable to work just like I want them to work.

For example, because I'm not the only user of this computer, currently the HIPS shows prompts for unknown applications and otherwise KIS reacts to everything automatically (so my parents don't have a chance to allow anything when the Web scanner detects something). The HIPS shows prompts because I don't trust KIS' automatic program classification (which is said to block about 60% of all unknown malware which isn't detected by the AV), and I rather answer the prompts myself for all unknown applications. Since there aren't many legitimate programs which aren't in KIS whitelist my parents almost never get a HIPS prompt. And when they do, they ask me what they should do. Works perfectly.

 

Kaspersky Anti-Virus & Internet Security 2011 11.0.2.534 CF2 Beta

Download Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 Beta
--http://devbuilds.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/KIS2011_CF2/11.0.2.534/kis11.0.2.534en.exe--

Download Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 Beta
--http://devbuilds.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/KIS2011_CF2/11.0.2.534/kav11.0.2.534en.exe--

 

I was going to post about the CF2 beta, but it seems the Config Wizard has issues sometimes after install.
Also traces and App Verifier are enabled (heavy writing to disk and more load than usual - debug mode).

Better wait for the next build