MaximumPC Internet Security Comparatives

[r0bc]

I'll keep using MSE for a AV...it's good enough for me. Some people are going to get infected regardless what they use.

[DCCV44.2223]

Originally Posted by MrDiaz

Very interesting indeed. Avira kicking butt as always! :)

Avira/AntiVir has a pretty good engine, but I'm not sure if giving the software away for free is a viable business model unless you're MSFT with money to burn.

In the 20 years to 2006 the total number of malware detected is 500,000. It doubled to a million by the end of 2007. We're now near 4 million with more than 5,000 new samples added a day.

Dealing with the new samples and pushing updates to users costs money and that cost will continue to rise. However, users are paying less for their AV -- many now retail for $50-60/year with 3 licences (which often can be shared with friends).

In such a climate, it doesn't make economical sense for a dozen AV vendor each having to process the same new samples, especially when Norton already has 40-50% of the market and MSFT is giving MSE away.

I'm just guessing but it would not surprise me at all if the AV industry goes through some sort of consolidation over the next few years and end up with only a handful of vendors.

[MrDiaz]

They do sell a Premium version though, with anti-spyware and a few other features.

[DCCV44.2223]

Originally Posted by MrDiaz

They do sell a Premium version though, with anti-spyware and a few other features.

To make money out of the "giveaway" model they need a certain number of users of the free version to upgrade to the paid versions.

It's not just Avira, I just think it'll be hard for the smaller AV vendors to continue to compete.