Good comparison. They're both utterly useless and a waste of money.

In reply to a post by majika2007:

I highly recommend ESET Smart Security - ESS Version 7 is in beta ATM but from what I have quickly seen ESS v7 has revamped its features with some really powerful and flexible rule based options. HIPS and more.

[snip]

Loading the latest version of an AV product and firmware updates to a router are the least likely activities for many PC users.

I am sure that when ESET version 7 is released it will be very good, but development work on the product has seen a matching price hike which is not so welcomed.

In reply to a post by Zadeks:

They're both utterly useless and a waste of money

I agree with the former but we are worlds apart on the latter

Loading the latest version of an AV product and firmware updates to a router are the least likely activities for many PC users.

Come again..? unless you know of a way how to load a fully featured product (such as ESET SS) onto an embedded device like a router's nvram I would be extremely interested to know how!

My contribution to this discussion was not aimed at targeting embedded systems like WRT-based devices and the ilk but more so towards the *common* users approach installing soft based security products to secure systems via commercial grade security products, based on, installed and operated on a home laptop, workstation/server.

I am sure that when ESET version 7 is released it will be very good

Well, not to be too blunt but have you had the chance to review this product yet? under load and in a demanding environment?
I have and it is solid..

This version of ESET was able to detect the majority of Metasploit's attack vectors and payloads (and some custom payloads) during my testing, ESET SS 7 has way better heuristics for detecting custom UD packers.

but development work on the product has seen a matching price hike which is not so welcomed.

Oh, so you want a secure product with good levels of tech/community based-support and "relative" piece of mind from unauthorized security breaches, additional functionality but begrudge paying a slight premium for it; which, I must add is not that high of a increase. sounds like your penalizing a company for innovation..

Edited by majika2007 (Fri 13-Sep-13 22:51:21)

You are reading far too much into my contribution to this thread and sort of making assumptions from what I say. I do quite a bit of IT activity for local SMBs and private individuals and during the course of such activities can generally persuade them to move over to ESET. Returning a couple of years, or more, later, particularly to oversee a replacement computer[s], it is often noticed that the installed version is still there despite later versions being released. There are no reminders, or popups, from ESET to say that a later version is available [for free] to download. OK, there is a feature to check whether you have the latest version, but average Jo Public doesn't go there to find out. The same is also true for firmware updates to routers.

We are on the same hymn sheet about *common* users and off the shelf AV products but whereas you or I may indeed load the latest versions, that is not true of ever computer user.

I have no interest in reviewing forthcoming versions/products and would never load beta products onto a production PC and indeed that is true for my customers PCs. A beta version may be the best thing since sliced bread, but until it is a released version then that will be the time for me to discover the improvements. If you want to test a product that will be coming onto the market in due course, then that's fine by me but I object to your suggestion that I must do the same.

It is not me that bulks at the price for a quality product but more other end users who see free versions of AV products as being adequate for their needs. Going up the scale, well known brands are frequent advertised at half price, so the perception becomes that an AV product costs about £25. ESET is not a "slight premium" price as you suggest and indeed costs a third more than two years ago. It therefore stands to reason that it is more difficult to persuade someone to use a product that does all you say in your last paragraph. So you need stick you head out of the door and smell the real world and realize that not everyone can afford premium products.

Fortunately my reputation is such that if I recommend ESET then that is good enough for the majority of my customers and they subsequently become loyal to the product.

Seems to me that unless one re-scans a machine with something like Malwarebytes then one can never be sure how effective an AV produce is. People will say such and such a product is really good but they may be unaware that a machine is infected with malware simply because their AV software has not detected it.

For more than adequate security one could use the free Comodo IS product and set it to frequently update it�s data base and allow only known applications to run, hence it would block unknown applications and would not rely on heuristics which would allow unknown applications to run. This setting may be fine for many users who just need a machine for normal everyday computing?

Huge thanks to everybody who took the trouble to reply.