AVG 8 Final released

[spaceelf]

http://www.grisoft.com/

The web pages are a bit confusing, but you don't need to pay to upgrade.

With AVG 8.0, AVG raises the bar further by providing improved protection against traditional threats such as viruses, spam, spyware and trojans as well as new protection against emerging threats including web exploits, drive-by downloads, phishing, and rootkits. Following is a summary of new and improved features:

New Anti-Exploit Technology– AVG 8.0’s patent-pending safe surfing and safe searching technology is designed to protect users of Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers against drive-by downloads from poisoned web pages and to flag dangerous search results in Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines.

New Web Shield– Complementing the safe surfing and searching technology, the new Web Shield module scans files during download or exchange over ICQ or MSN instant messaging to ensure they are safe and free of malicious content.

New High Performance Scanning Engine– AVG has reengineered the scanning engine from the ground up to tackle viruses and spyware in a single pass, delivering improved performance and speed through support for multi-core computers, reduced system resource requirements, and streamlined maintenance.

New User Interface– Enables more intuitive and efficient operation for novice and advanced users alike.

New Anti-Rootkit– This new component removes and protects against rootkits, an especially pernicious form of malware that can give cybercriminals high-level control over infected computers.

New Firewall– The all-new AVG firewall is designed to protect computers against unauthorized access from internal and external networks as well as direct hacker attacks.

Improved Anti-Virus– Provides improved detection of hidden viruses, faster scanning, and more intuitive scheduling of scans.

Improved Resident Shield– Provides enhanced on-access scanning with the ability to scan multiple file-open requests simultaneously.

Anti-Spam– Brings faster performance to minimize email processing time and ensure prompt delivery of messages.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I never under stand the payed version. They really aren't that good of antivirus, and the only reason anyone would ever use them is because they are free. If you are paying for an antivirus why would you choose AVG over NOD32?

[spaceelf]

I paid for it because I respect how they do business and because it's unobtrusive.

NOD32 hosed my install last time I tried it. Not interested.

Anyway, they are quite good at 7.5 and have no doubt improved with 8.0.

[The Laughing Man]

I use AVG all the time have it packaged with all the computers I sell at my store, So far I couldnt see myself using Nod32 in my case for when I was using it it seems bit for the advanced user end, as for AVG it was quite simple> I choose AVG over Nod32 for simplicity for my customers. Not to mention Nod32 (for me) wouldnt catch as nearly as half of the viruses I threw at it during testing.

[Enrickey]

On my last computer, every time I uninstalled Nod32, it hosed my network card's drivers. Only a reformat would fix it.

[ring0]

... and because it's unobtrusive.

i wish that were still the case.

i installed 8 last night and it has a new "watcher" service that's required if you want any functionality at all. that will start up at least two other services, plus it wants to run an .exe in the system tray when windows boots.

and after all that, i still wasn't able to scan a file by right clicking > scan with avg. no response from anything.

i've already uninstsalled and i'm going to try life without antivirus for a while. it's time to trim down the laptop, software-wise, anyway.

[1Frothy]

I never under stand the payed version. They really aren't that good of antivirus, and the only reason anyone would ever use them is because they are free. If you are paying for an antivirus why would you choose AVG over NOD32?

NOD32 is far and beyond betterthan AVG, and worth the licensing fee. But AVG, it's alright - not worth the fee AVG are asking for it. The detection rates are just too low.

And 59MB for an antivirus scanner seems a bit extreme.

I respect both products for what they are.

[Angel Blue01]

Kapersky and NOD32 are the best in every scanning test

[1Frothy]

Gee. AVG 8 isn't as slim as its predecessor. :/

The new UI is quite neat and well designed (Y)

Scanner in action.

*I don't think ESET NOD32 does anything about cookies :$ Impressive...

Test detection.

AVG have done very well with this new version. So I bought a license to 'reward' them (Y) /smug

Edited February 29, 2008 by 1Frothy

[mtrftw]

Awesome, it deletes cookies. yay.

Version 8 has a noticeable impact on system speed as opposed to v7.

Gee. AVG 8 isn't as slim as its predecessor. :/

The new UI is quite neat and well designed (Y)

Scanner in action.

*I don't think ESET NOD32 does anything about cookies :$ Impressive...

Test detection.

AVG have done very well with this new version. So I bought a license to 'reward' them (Y) /smug

[1Frothy]

No impact on system performance at all with AVG 8. (Y)

I'm very pleased with it and it's nice to see it cleaning cookies too.

[+longgonebn Subscriber²]

How can there be no impact on system performance when there are 8 services running compared to 2 or 3 of them...

But I would love to see the new UI in the free version.. :)

[Scorbing]

How can there be no impact on system performance when there are 8 services running compared to 2 or 3 of them...

But I would love to see the new UI in the free version.. :)

It will eventually make it to the free version. After all, the free version IS the Pro version but without some features and no tech support.

[1Frothy]

How can there be no impact on system performance when there are 8 services running compared to 2 or 3 of them...

But I would love to see the new UI in the free version.. :)

I don't know but I don't notice any impact at all on this oldish P4 2.8Ghz with 2GB DDR and Vista SP1 X86.

[spaceelf]

How can there be no impact on system performance when there are 8 services running compared to 2 or 3 of them...

But I would love to see the new UI in the free version.. :)

I only have AVG plus Firewall, but I still only see three services. If anything there's less impact on system resources simply because it uses multiple cores. I was already pretty damn impressed with the release candidate...

[spaceelf]

Anyway there are multiple reasons I don't care if AVG isn't the absolute best (with 7.5, since tests with 8.0 haven't been done yet.)

1 - I haven't had more than one virus in ten years.

2 - A lot of the viruses AVG 7.5 missed in testing were older viruses, and my best guess is they wouldn't work on x64 anyway, since no 16 bit or DOS code even runs in x64. Probably most of them would be negated by Vista alone.

3 - AVG 8 includes anti rootkit, 7.5 didn't.

As I've said, my system performance is more important to me than the coverage of the AV I'm using, for the reasons I listed. Nonetheless it's a great upgrade.

The firewall appears to be worlds beyond the old one, too. I haven't gone in depth on the differences, but I've seen plenty.

[Danrarbc]

As I've said, my system performance is more important to me than the coverage of the AV I'm using, for the reasons I listed.

Well if system performance matters to you then nod32 is right up your alley. Yet at the same time it also protects you better

[1Frothy]

Well if system performance matters to you then nod32 is right up your alley. Yet at the same time it also protects you better

In the last "on demand" results on AV-Comparatives AVG edged out NOD32.

Plus on my PC NOD32 missed a number of tracking cookies and a spyware registry entry. Yet AVG V8 picked those up, no sweat.

[AStaUK]

One thing that no one seems to have mentioned is how much difference the multi threaded scan engine seems to make. It used to take me on average around 1hr to do a complete scan of my system (around 200gb) with 7.5, now with version 8 my scans are completed in around 20mins. Quite a difference and one that I certainly like.

Also it now checks for new definitions every 4hrs so the protection is far more upto date. For my home system I've got no intention of changing anytie soon, but think I'll keep Sophos on the work computer systems for now.

AStaley.

Spec;

Core2 Q6600 2.4Ghz

4gb RAM

Harddrive 500gb

Vista SP1 x64

[spaceelf]

Well if system performance matters to you then nod32 is right up your alley. Yet at the same time it also protects you better

If only it had even worked last time I tried it, I might care enough to go find out if that's true.

According to someone else, it isn't. That's good enough for me.

[imis]

i going to try it today

[cork1958]

For free, this is an alright AV/all in one tool, but I sure as heck wouldn't pay for it. For my own systems, this thing runs WAY to many services and will NEVER be installed on them.

I can't stand real time AV protection anyway. Always manually scan files after downloading, which is what makes Clamwin such a good AV, IMO.

AV of choice for me is Kasperky Personal Pro WITHOUT real time protection also.

[JustGeorge]

Everytime I load AVG free on someone's computer, they come back a couple of months later with viruses on them. Avast, not so much but still happens. You get what you pay for. Hopefully the resident shield and detection rate improved.

[Elliot B.]

*awaits AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.0*

[+Warwagon MVC]

Everytime I load AVG free on someone's computer, they come back a couple of months later with viruses on them. Avast, not so much but still happens. You get what you pay for. Hopefully the resident shield and detection rate improved.

To be fair I've had the same thing happen with nod32 on customers computers. Fact of the matter is they are idiots. I know one girl who I thought was smart, she went to a website that said she needed this application to view the video on the page (The page looked about as non legit as they can get) Up popped an setup.exe and she ran it. Game over. I also saw that sort of page a few times myself. When that setup.exe popped up I was like "HELL NO!"

Like I always say "No amount of Antivirus or Antispyware can protect you from your own stupidity!"

[JustGeorge]

To be fair I've had the same thing happen with nod32 on customers computers. Fact of the matter is they are idiots. They think they can open anything they want and the antivirus will save them. Thats almost true, although if its new enough they are screwed.

There is some truth in that statement as well :p I can however make the counter claim that when I load a 30-day trial of KAV, I don't hear anything more about viruses unless they let the trial run out and didn't buy. That goes back to your second sentence, though. Guess you win :) No security app is perfect of couse.....

*Thanks for the heads up on Sandboxie, btw. Been using it daily.