important message for V5 beta testers

Folks,

The fifth generation of ESET's anti-malware software has passed through its alpha builds, beta tests both public and private, release candidates and is now available in its final form. Which leaves us with one important activity which must now take place. And that activity is to thank each and every one of you.

It has been about a year since ESET started testing the v5 code, beginning with our internal testing by our QA department and then moving outward from their in larger groups, culminating in the releases made available to the public. In that time, we have received bug reports, feature requests and feedback from hundreds of thousands of users. We have fixed bugs, spec'ed features for the coming releases and answered feedback from people around the globe through the Internet.

It's been said that the Internet makes the globe a little smaller by connecting people together who have shared ideas, experiences and interests. I cannot think of any place that is more true than the community which resides here at Wilders Security Forum.

On behalf of ESET, I would like to just pause and take a moment to thank each and every one of you for your bug reports, your heartfelt comments, constructive criticism and all the other feedback you have shared with us. Even those of you—especially those of you—who have shared some pretty passionate thoughts with us. We know that if you did not care about ESET that you wouldn't have done so and that you want to see ESET make the best anti-malware software possible. But more about passion in a moment.

Version 5 represents a series of firsts for us (first major release since V4 in 2009; first release under our new CEOs Richard Marko and Andrew Lee; first version to have HIPS and reputation data available in the user interface, and so forth). I would also like to think that, in a way, it marks the beginning of a new ESET for you as well; that the Version 5 code will be the platform that we build upon and refine, adding new functionality, features and changes that you request in the coming weeks, months and years. While we have an idea that you want the best anti-malware software around, don't stop letting us known what you want: There's still a lot of things we can do and will do, if only you let us know what's needed. We know that we can't get there alone without your thoughtful feedback and comments.

It's never easy to make complex software that is meant to be used everywhere by people with skillsets ranging from never having used a computer before to those who have programmed them since the first personal computer came out. One thing that I have learned is that it is very, very hard to make things easy to use. There are trade-offs in terms of design, usability, performance overhead, compatibility and thousands of other details that go into launching a new piece of software. And that said, a number of you have been quite frank about what you think of those trade-offs and I think we have been good about explaining how v5 will change over time in response to your feedback.

I would like to think that with Version 5 of ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 Antivirus, we have delivered software worthy of that passion. You've asked, and we've coded. We hope you enjoy the results.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
Distinguished Researcher
ESET North America