When I thing about antivirus softwares, always comes in my mind Norton, McAfee, Bit Defender, Panda, NOD32 and Kaspersky. All these antivirueses are powerful and have something unique, but Kaspersky was the slowest and difficult to set in my opinion. I used fow a while version 5 and I wasn't convinced about its capabilities. The interface was not so intuitive and it was a real hog resources.
The actual version 6.0 surprised me how fast it could be installed. I had to restart the system only two times. I was surprised by the first visual impact. The interface is very simple and is more like Norton Antivirus interface. The design is very integrated in the Microsoft Windows style. Much more colorful than the previous version and with a popup system that shows you live the status of your system.
Of course the first step was to scan my entire system. The software was able to find me a couple of adwares and trojans that were blocked by Bit Defender but never cleaned. You can choose in the settings if the software should ask you what to do with the infected files or to let them for futher activities. If you choose the second option you can right click on the infected source and choose what to do with it.
The classic terms like firewall or spam guard have been a little bit changed and the new functions are:
-file antivirus: an active scan for files; -mail antivirus: an active scan for emails; -web antivirus: an active scan for HTTP traffic; -proactive defense: combines reactive antivirus detection with proactive technologies for a better protection against malicious programs, dangerous behaviours, hidden processes, Microsoft Office dangerous macros, etc.;
As I already said the interface is much more intuitive than version 5 interface, because of the expandable areas in the main window and the play/pause/stop commands. Therefore the beginners will be astonished by the simplicity of the product and the advanced users will appreciate the flexibility of the program that can suite their requirements.
The definitions updates are again, like the whole interface, similar to Symantec Live Update, letting you know the size of updates, remaining time, percentage, etc. KAV comes also with a spyware protection which is quite functionable. I is integrated in the web antivirus.
V6 seems to be much faster than v5, and therefore the scanning processes can barely be felt. The overall memory usage is much lower.
Pluses: the proactive defense; Microsoft Office guard; antispyware; simple interface; faster than v5
Drawbacks / flaws:
In conclusion: Kasperky has grown from a much more popular antivirus to a powerful one that can be a real commercial threat for the others. At a price of 40 $ only Panda is the one that can beat him.
version reviewed: 6.0
Publisher:
Kaspersky Lab
License:
Shareware; $39.95
Size:
13.1 MB
OS:
Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP
We did not scan Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0.0.303 download for viruses, adware, spyware or any other kind of malware.
For your safety, please have a decent antivirus installed, with updated definitions that will protect you from virus threats.
Our Security tip:
Use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer to prevent Spyware installation!
Firefox is the best, safe web browser available today.
