AntiVir 7 Premium Open Beta

Being way too naturally curious for my own good, this is the fourth antivirus (AVG, Avast, BitDefender8, and now AntiVir) program I've tried this week. Thus far, it's definitely in the running for being my new free solution. The interface is, hands down, my favorite of the pack. I thought the umbrella would get on my nerves after a while, but it's growing on me quickly. I like the blue scheme of the Premium over the red of the free, but that's just me.

I'm going strictly from a usability/visibility standpoint here, and everything I'm about to say is simply my opinion. I hope these comments can be helpful.

Installation: Super easy, no issues. There was nothing confusing to throw me off.

System Integration: The context menu integration and tray icon are both extremely straightforward. Practically everything is in the Tray Icon menu that is needed with the exception of a Scan System option. Just a suggestion, but it would be nice to launch a full scan without going into the program given the other functionality already in the menu.

Menu Row: Basic, no problems understanding what was what. Nice inclusion of the Boot Sector scan and virus list in the Extras dialogue. I think the Configuration option might be better suited to the File menu than the Extras menu; I just don't see Configuration as an "extra".

Tab System: Intuitive and easy to understand, everything is laid out in a way that makes sense. It took me a moment to find the Scan button in the Scanner tab, perhaps an option set (Display Icons and Names, Icons and Selected Names, Icons Only) might help first-time users get acclimated? The mouseover effect did help once I found the icons, they just didn't pop out at me intiially.

I like having the Configuration button/icon on every tab. It was slightly misleading, as I expected clicking it to take me to a configuration for the Tab I was currently viewing. Possibly moving the Configuration and Help icons and buttons up to the same row as the tabs might emphasize the general nature of these options?

Thanks for putting a Virus Information option on the Guard page! Very handy.

Configuration Options: The basic layout is very, well basic. For beginning users, it's not overwhelming but at the same time might be a little too simplistic. Expert Mode isn't overwhelming either, but it does include enough of an increase in options that it might make some newer users nervous. Maybe bridging the gap between Basic and Expert with some preset options (Normal [stock] and High Security [Maximum heuristics, all file types, etc]) might help users who might be less apt to switch to Expert Mode increase their security level.

Scanning: Clicking the Scan icon without first highlighting one of the options below didn't do anything; it should either ask the user to choose from the list below or launch into a generic system scan if nothing is selected.

The actual scan page is neat, uncluttered, and easy to understand. The alert sound is nowhere near as annoying as some programs I've worked with but is still attention-getting. I like the way packed files and archives are displayed, with the archive on one line and the contents on the next. Very nice.

The berth of options available when a virus is found reminds me of NOD32. I didn't see a Submit File option, but may have missed it somewhere.

Overall Impression: AntiVir has done a nice job with the new interface, making it visually competitive with most of the premium antivirus solutions available. It is easy to install, easy to understand, and despite taking a little time getting used to the look I found it to be quite intuitive. There are some language translation issues every so often, but none of them are so off-base as to be confusing.

WHile I will leave the scanning results to the much more highly quality folks at
av-comparative, I found that the program lives up to billing with detection and cleaning. Scan times were not exceptionally speedy but where nowhere near the slow march of some competitors. The options when malware is found provide all the info one needs to make a good decision about the future of the file.

AntiVir has impressed me with this build, and I look forward to seeing how future updates continue to flesh out this program. Kudos to the programmers for such a nice job.

 

Blackcat and AshG, thank-you very much for your exceptional reviews.

 

Updater is still dsigned wrong. Poping up that update message is not the way because it will freak out any full screen application. Think about if that happens while someone is playing in a crucial clanwar. Bam he's thrown back on desktop. Most of games requre qiet some time to get back or some simply crash.
Yesterday i was just browsing and that updater window jumped in front of everything like it owns the PC. Not good. Even if it's now fully automatic it's still stupid to see it working like this. AVG and avast! can both do it completely silent.

 

Using antivir 6 premium , and have to concur with Rejzor about the updater.It should have a silent mode or much less conspicuous update window.That aside it is now my favourite av ,and one that i would stay with for forseeable future unless kav 6 can work as smoothly as this one when its in final release.
ellison

 

No problems with the Premium servers?

 

No problems at all with the servers (updating from the U.K) , been running antivir premium for a few weeks and it updates immediatley and quickly, and i havent had any updating errors or timeouts etc.
ellison

 

Did you use the Classic servers before and therefore can you make a comparison between the two?

I am tempted to purchase a license for the Premium version but since I am restricted to dial-up here, I would like much faster servers than the "free" ones.

 

Yes i did use the free version for a few days , and i did have trouble updating now and then usually between 6pm and 10pm,though to be honest it would usually update for me around 10.30 (gmt) with no problems .The premium updates at whatever time you choose with no problems at all.I am on 1meg bb though.If you could wait until tomorrow ill switch the router off and update with dial up to give you some idea of speed etc?
ellison

 

When malware is found. What is wipe and delete and how is it different from delete? Also shouldn't you be able to combine copy to quarantine with some of the other choices?

 

If you do this, I would be most interested in knowing if you did or did not have any trouble making contact with the server(s). I am talking about AntiVir/Classic "Free" only. I also would like to know how long it took for the download to complete.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Yes i did have trouble connecting sometimes to the free servers and would try an hour or so later.Usually between 6pm an 10pm u.k time.I never failed after that(10pm) to connect though.The speed when connected though was usually fast (im on 1m bb).I guess if your on dial up , the most your gonna get is 4 to 5 kbs tops so it is gonna seem that much longer , even for premium servers , if its a large update.
ellison

 

But I presume that the new incremental updating has improved matters?

 

I guess i never really had any speed problems with the free as such .The problem that could occur was actual connection to the update server as wildman pointed out.But again this wasnt too much of a problem either...you just had to update at certain times.Usually after 10pm was best for me.I guess theres all sorts of scenarios involved here though , as well as antivirs update servers.Theres also ISP traffic etc that could cause problems.I know when i was on ukonline i was lucky to get 432 kbs download speed and lots of dropouts.Since ive migrated to naims im constantly getting around 942 kbs with no drop outs.Im not saying that these are the only problems,,,,but they can add to slow downloads.
ellison

 

Thank you. I am once again giving AntiVir/Classic another try. I sure hope this time does not yet again prove that I am a glutton for punishment. I am on dial-up, and that in and of itself can present it's own set of problems, however as I have stated before, it has only been AntiVir/Classic that has frequently been difficult to maintain due to the server(s). I also think that at one time or another I have tried all the available "free" programs. This should indicate, that I think AntiVir/Classic is a good virus protection program.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Hi RajZoR!
You CAN set different view modes for the updater. Just edit the job in the scheduler and select "minimized" or "invisible". Probably we should put there "minimized" by default?

Btw: AV7 provides differential updates for signature files (~15 k) and single file update - this means updates are very small and fast.


-------
Thomas Salomon
H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH

 

I tried both open betas (Classic and Premium) and bot had ONLY Minimized and Maximized. However there was also option "Hidden" in closed beta some time ago. I wonder why it's missing now...

Minimized just means it will launch that smaller version of updater window. Maximized means it will launch large one. No Hidden option. Unless there was a program update recently that fixes this...
I belive default setting should be "Hidden".

Optionally you may add some sort of update notification in for of balloon popup like NOD32 does or some other form of update notification that doesn't interfer with other applications.

This is the only thing that got my attention. Everything else appears to be ok.
When you fix this i'm sure AntiVir will become one of the best AVs there are in freeware department and possibly even in payware. Good job

 

edit: Found it. I'm apparently still half asleep and melatonin-drunk from an overdose of turkey.

 

Look at page 1 the first post

 

Found this interesting... I highly doubt it's a keylogger, definitely a false positive.

 

What is the difference between the 2 betas.The free and the premium seem the same.The free definately updates as fast as the pay,so now is it just the spyware detection that seperates the 2

 

Once again AntiVir/Classic is off my machine! I don't think I have to tell anyone why. That's it as far as I am concerned, you all can have this program, I am finished with the lot of it. I have been ranting about the crap server(s) for years now, and in my opinion not a damn thing has changed in this area.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Wow ,why the difference.The first update is large but after that i get instant contact with servers and tiny updates.All done in about 5 secs.

 

Same here. Ever since I've installed AntiVir 7 beta, every update connected immediately. I have it set to check every hour, too. Not once did it take more than about 5 seconds, usually instantly.

They really did a good job on the new version - very nice interface.

 

I am useing the beta classic.I have tried both betas,and see no difference.

 

No offense dude, but you're on dialup... I don't think you have room to grumble.

How about posting some numbers and testing logs before pulling the Big Goodbye?