Announcing Online Armor AV+

Thanks Mike, very good news.

 

1st I heard of this, Mike.
I don't know ....?
I beta tested a little of kas but did not like the firewall and had some issues with stuff.
Right now, my folks have had Norton for a while, and I have wanted to find something better.
I heard of one program (I forget which one) that used both Kas and BitDefender engines.
A lot of folks have recommended NOD32.
So, I am wondering why you chose Kas over others, so I can understand more about if this is the one I would want to replace Norton.
Also, the pt of a product using more than one, I'd like to hear your response to that. I know from experience that just one (any one) misses stuff, so if you could manage more than one to be your AV inclusion, that would be a good selling pt, and feel-good pt, especially since a lot of companies are doing the AV bundle, and the choice of what to use may simply be the one they can strike a deal with so they have one.
thanks.

 

puddingalien .
Kaspersky is a very good engine . Please remember that OA will protect you from virii and trojans on it's own . So , the AV being used is more of a backup , JUST in case , something slips through . Just wanted to point out that OA is ALREADY an AV type program . Actually , more of an Antimalware program .

 

Pretty cool to see you guys have included an AV Mike. Man I have missed this place so much. Im way behind on things.

If I was not a NOD32 user, I would be sure to check this out for sure. Maybe sometime down the road.

Good luck with your product Mike and Cheers.

 

Hi Puddingalien,

The reason for including an antivirus is that they are very good at identification of the known nasties. This is important for less experienced users who just want to a this is bad/good determination made for them. Having OA able to say "this is definitely bad, kill it" and extending the whitelist of safe apps (which we are also doing) means that users need to make less decisions, less popups, and generally a nicer experience.

As for why Kaspersky - we chose it over other options based on quality. We haven't licenced the KAV product, we've licenced the engine. We're taking that engine and using it inside OA, so firewall things and other KAV annoyances you may have - aren't really a problem.

Based on Kaspersky detection rates, I have no intentions of including any additional AV components. If I had started with a lower quality engine , I may have considered it - but I think we've taken the best engine for the job and I'm happy with that choice.

I think most users want to run only one AV and adding two would only increase the price of the product for little gain. (Actually, I think most users don't want to run ANY AV at all, but they grudgingly do after getting nailed by viruses )

Hope that answers the questions...

Mike

 

cool. sounds good. just wanted to clarify something.

 

Hi Again,

Online Armor AV+ is now out of private beta and moved into our standard Beta forums over at
http://www.tallemu.com/forum/
We're still refining it and playing around with it - but anyone who would like to take a look is now welcome to do so. If you don't have access to the beta forums (I hide them to keep the "mums and dads" from getting scared!) then PM me with your handle and I'll give you access.

Your existing Online Armor key will work with the product - if you don't have an Online Armor key, or have previously evaluated it just let me know and I will send you another key.

Cheers


Mike

 

sounds good to me Mike, when [if] I get some time in next day or two, shall head on over and give it a whirl mate.

TAS

 

No offense, Mike -- I love OA 150% -- but I also love my DrWeb AV, & A², & my newly-installed Kerio FW. I do hope that...

1) I won't have to pay for FW module of OA if I don't want to use it.
2) OA won't get bloated to the extent that, even if one doesn't choose to install the FW, the FW MBs will still be present on one's HD.

It's quite possible that I will WANT to use one or both of OA's new modules, but I am not (repeat NOT) a fan of suites. I like the freedom to pick & choose.

 

Hi Bellgamin,

Not sure if you are talking about the AV or Firewall - so I will cover both.

Firewall
For all licenced users of OA, the firewall is a free upgrade. Haven't decided yet if we will sell the firewall separately - but if you've put your hand in your pocket and bought OA, I'm not charging you for the firewall. If you got an OA licence because you helped me test OA, I'm not charging you for the firewall. It's simply a new feature that goes in.

Antivirus
If you don't want it, you will not need to pay for it - nor install it - nor use it. There will be a different charge for the AV as obviously, I have licenced the code and need to pay royalties and fees for updates. However, I will try and look after those who have looked after us and supported us with Online Armor when it comes to release time.

Suites
OA's target audience is the "mums and dads" of the world, and for this reason a suite makes a lot of sense. HOWEVER, a goodly proportion of our users are also quite technical and want the ability to mix and match things.

I feel that we have to stay true to our goal and make sure that we progress towards OA being the only security application that you need, and to do that in such a way that the different pieces tie together nicely, cleanly - and perform well.

Having said that, I have made commitments that you will not be forced to use Online Armor's firewall (or, Antivirus) if you do not want to, and we stand by the commitments that we make. So, Online Armor 2 will have dual modes of operation - a beginner mode for mum, and an expert mode for anyone that wants to use it.

Also with this in mind, and due to licence costs, we're producing two different versions of Online Armor. The version you know and love will stay the same, still be called Online Armor, still get all of the new fruit that I've discussed previously, including the firewall.

The other version will be called Online Armor AV+ - for obvious reasons - and will be exactly the same as Online Armor, with the addition of the Antivirus engine, and some changes that take advantage of that engine.

Since the AV+ version is a different version, this will not get installed onto your PC unless you are licenced to use it (or have chosen to evaluate it).

Back to the firewall - the way the firewall works is with a new kernel mode driver - this driver will also be used to re-implement the HTTP, IMAP and POP3 proxies in Kernel mode. In effect, it replaces WinsockProxy.dll - so it won't be hooking - and it'll be down in the kernel. We'll get better, more reliable performance that way and it's long been planned as part of Kernel-Mode Online Armor.

Since the Kernel mode driver is needed for both the firewall, AND the proxies you will need to have this installed - but since it's replacing an existing component, it couldn't be classed as bloat - I hope

As far as the firewall part goes - at the current moment, it's too early to tell if the pieces will be installed, but not used, or not installed at all. It depends how integrated it is and a whole host of other factors. But, if it doesn't cause me any technical problems or impact I'll try to keep that code separate as far as possible - although, to be honest, it won't make much (if any) difference to the size of Online Armor's installer.

Of course, the AV piece would make a huge difference - but we're treating Online Armor with AV as a completely separate product line.

Hope that helps you - and anyone else that has questions.


Mike

PS..

I'll give you the freedom, but I think you will like what we do here with both of the new capabilities and you might like *our* suite

 

Thanks Mike. Oddly enough I'm far more likely to buy optional add-ons than I am to buy push-packages.

Don't spend more than 5 minutes trying to accomodate weirdos like me. Hopefully, there are probably only 3 or 4 of us in the worldwide customer base, so it won't have much effect on you billfold one or the other.

My group of folks are a lot like granola. Take away the fruits & nuts, and all you have left are the flakes.

 

bellgamin has a point though.

Often when things are forced down upon us, we feel lack of control and maybe won't buy a product. But when it comes with bells and whistles that we can turn on and off, it seems so much more attractive for some reason.

 

Mike, It's not the size of the installer that worries us. It's the fact that we may have to have something installed but is switched off. Now i learned over the last few years that having two firewalls installed at the same time can cause problems. Even if one is disabled. I simply think it better to have tick boxes when installing to choose the modules we want to install. Put it this way, if you force it to be installed and it causes problems with my existing firewall then i certainly won't be looking for an alternative firewall that plays nice. I bought Online Armor it because it compliments my AV, FW and AT.

Also, while i'm posting. Whatever happened to the Kernel Keylogging detection?

muf

 

It's coming - I had to put a hold on the Kernel mode stuff - but it should resume this week. The AV+ project popped up suddenly, and for commercial reasons had to take a bit of priority.

Cheers

Mike

 

Sorry, I missed that comment - I'm not forcing anything to be installed, save the kernel mode module which will be used for replacement of the Winsock proxy to make OA a kernel mode product. I'll be making damn sure that in this mode, OA plays nice with everything and everything.

 

Watch out KIS 2006, here comes Online Armor +AV + FW on FIRE!

dja2k

 

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all of the supportive replies to this thread, but they get deleted for TOS and it serves no purpose to irritate the Wilders staff, so please continue to discuss AV+ over at the Tall Emu forums - www.tallemu.com

Cheers

Mike

 

No problems Mike.

 

Yup ships ahoy Mike. Did I mention you have a great forum there?