Pros:

-Free

-Effective virus protection

-Small file size

-Easy to understand interface

Cons:

-Lacks high end features such as email scanning and anti spam

-Full scan takes a long time to complete

Recently Microsoft launched their new security suite to combat the many viruses which plague PCs and give Mac people a point to argue about. But this isn't just another competitor in a huge market; this product is free and is built to put virus protection in almost every Windows computer due to its simple interface and low file size.

this new security suite is quite basic, consisting of an anti virus only. It has no anti spam, firewall or any other bells and whistles which other security suites have. Instead it relies on Windows' built in firewall as protection. Despite lacking some of the features of other security suites, it is incredibly light weight and only a 4MB download. The interface is simple and easy to use and understand. It shows all security threats visually but is very unobtrusive. It only interrupts when necessary, otherwise it quietly runs in the background.

Not only is it a quiet antivirus, it is also very effective in detecting and getting rid of viruses. It easily detected several trojans on my computer after visiting a dodgy site. This was after performing a quick scan which, for normal users is all that is needed. A quick scan only takes a few minutes and is quite good. The full scan which, as the name suggests, scans everything is quite slow, often taking a few hours to complete a scan. The program also constantly scans in the background while you are browsing the internet and warns you of potential threats. It quickly immobilises any viruses which get onto your computer through the internet. I doesn’t,  however, scan email as it comes through. This means that any viruses which get to you by email will only be detected after your computer has been infected. Visual cues make it easy for anyone to know whether something is wrong with your computer and large, clear buttons make this program easy to use and understand for anyone. In general, the software is reliable but the fact that it lacks may  high end features such as email scanning and software firewall, it is not a good solution for people and businesses with sensitive data. For any home user it is a perfect and cheap solution.

Overall, this anti virus package from Microsoft is an excellent free solution to a problem which has plagued PC users for years. It really leaves no excuse for having no virus protection as it is a good piece of freeware. Although it lacks some of the more advanced features of other security packages, it is free and you can't complain about that.

Introduction

Kaspersky has recently released its 2010 internet security suite. Yes, it is a bit early but none the less it is an excellent product it has a new interface and few new features and one of the best things is that anyone who already has a subscription to the internet suite gets the upgrade for FREE! Bad news is if you don't already have it, it will cost you about $50 per year

Pros

• Slick new interface
• Small footprint
• Lots of customisability options
• Virtual keyboard

Cons

• Causes a few network issues
• Sometimes stops working
• Deep scan option takes a lot of CPU power and slows the computer down significantly

Overview

Kaspersky's products have typically been some of the best anti virus products on the market. This new suite is no exception. It is easy to use, and will detect almost every virus on your computer if you have one. It will detect viruses with other suites won't pick up and has heaps of features.
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The product has many security options including a firewall, anti virus, anti spam, anti phishing, anti banner and parental control. It is a fully packed suite. The anti virus is very good and picked up 2 viruses on  my computer which were previously not picked up with the older version of Kaspersky. It is also constantly scanning your computer in the background checking all websites you access, instant messaging and monitors all programs you use for any form of virus, trojan, malware or spyware. There is a new virtual keyboard which allows you to enter sensitive information such as passwords with it so key loggers can't pick it up. The menu is very easy to navigate for customising every component of the suite to suit your needs. You can turn off components if you don't need them and you can change the type of scan and where the program scans for viruses. This can be overwhelming for users who are not familiar with these options but it is powerful.

Although the suite is fully featured, there are a few problems. For example the Deep scan option when scanning through my mail, it found a virus but instead of deleting the virus in the email, it deleted every single email (over 5000) in order to get rid of the virus. This is a major flaw and can only be avoided if you stop it from scanning your email and let anti-spam do its job. Another annoyance is the fact that when the scan is running, the computer will become quite slow. This can be avoided if the scan setting is put down to normal but if you want a deep scan, you can't do too much intense work. There was also a problem of the program just randomly ceasing to work. It was easy to restart but it is irritating. These problems rarely occur though. So it shouldn't phase you in your decision to buy the product too much. If the program ever does delete anything which was needed, it handily creates a backup of the file and even tries to restore a virus free version of the file.

Conclusion

Overall, this internet security suite is fully featured and very powerful. It also comparitively has a small footprint and shouldn't affect performance too much. Apart from a few minor gripes, this is a top notch product.