One of the things that has always annoyed me really came to a head over the weekend when I was taking care of my aunt and uncle’s Dell laptop. Primarily, any of the antivirus software from the big vendors–McAfee and Symantec–are just bloated pieces of software that do nothing more to confuse the user than to help them.
The recent trend that the big antivirus vendors have undertaken is to throw everything and the kitchen sink into a Security Suite. This suite of software will do everything under the sun–protect your computer from viruses, provide a better firewall to protect your computer from internet hacking attempts, free your inbox from the blight of spam, wash your laundry, and take your dog for a walk. In doing so, they have just made the user more confused. My aunt complained of some dialog that nagged her when she sent an email, and she had no idea what software was updating itself. Some of that I can ascribe to her just being the typical non-technical user.
In their effort to cater to these users, they have dumbed down a control center that should allow easy access for one to enable and disable certain features. The control centers for these applications are worse as a result. As a technically savvy user, I found it difficult to find the specific thing I was looking for, specifically disabling a feature. Moreover, if you disable a feature, the damn application makes sure to remind you that you have disabled it. Maybe it’s just me, but I disabled the feature for a reason and I do not need to be electronically nagged that I disabled it.
The laptop in question was running McAfee’s product. In my esteemed opinion, this software is worse than a steaming pile of crap on your laptop keyboard. In the security vendor’s attempts to put all of these tools in one place, they have made the software slow and annoying to use. Additionally, for the typical user, some of the features in place are just not necessary. If you have a laptop, I really believe that a decent anti-virus scanner is all you need, as the firewalls and other protection built-into these security suites just bloats the suite.
There are some decent and free antivirus software packages out there–ClamWin and AVG. Do yourself a favor and keep it simple. Only get the product or tool that you need to keep your PC virus free.
{ 10 } Comments
Did you read this?
Good think Kiki doesn’t read this - doesn’t he work for Symantec?
I agree with using AVG, the security suites are definately not worth the hassle of real-time protection.
Did you read this?
jwer: I need to add CodingHorror to my list of regular reads. That’s good stuff. And dead on, too.
R.O.B.: I thought Kiki didn’t work for Symantec anymore. In any event, his company’s software blows. And AVG is the bomb. I switched to it late last year, and I have not looked back since.
Good think Kiki doesn't read this - doesn't he work for Symantec?
I agree with using AVG, the security suites are definately not worth the hassle of real-time protection.
jwer: I need to add CodingHorror to my list of regular reads. That's good stuff. And dead on, too.
R.O.B.: I thought Kiki didn't work for Symantec anymore. In any event, his company's software blows. And AVG is the bomb. I switched to it late last year, and I have not looked back since.
Yeah, I just discovered him a couple of months ago… he’s very good, both on specific topics and on the range of topics he discusses…
Remind me to tell you about the time my mother deleted her Windows registry…because she “already registered” her software and “didn’t need the registry anymore”.
Ah, fun times with the fam.
Yeah, I just discovered him a couple of months ago… he's very good, both on specific topics and on the range of topics he discusses…
Remind me to tell you about the time my mother deleted her Windows registry…because she “already registered” her software and “didn't need the registry anymore”.
Ah, fun times with the fam.
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