DETECTION RATES:
(Higher is better)
| G DATA |
99.8% |
| Trustport |
99.2% |
| Avast |
98.4% |
| Panda, F-Secure |
98.1% |
| Qihoo |
97.9% |
| Bitdefender |
97.6% |
| Avira, ESET |
97.5% |
| eScan |
97.4% |
| Kaspersky |
97.0% |
| McAfee |
96.8% |
| Microsoft |
95.8% |
| Symantec |
95.5% |
| Trend Micro |
94.4% |
| Sophos |
94.1% |
| PC Tools |
92.8% |
| AVG |
91.4% |
| Webroot |
85.5% |
| K7 |
84.4% |
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SCANNING SPEEDS:
(Higher is faster)
| Avast |
16.3MB/sec |
| Panda |
13.2MB/sec |
| K7 |
12.3MB/sec |
| Webroot |
12.1MB/sec |
| McAfee |
11.2MB/sec |
| Sophos |
10.6MB/sec |
| Trend Micro |
10.4MB/sec |
| Kaspersky |
10.3MB/sec |
| Avira |
10.2MB/sec |
| AVG |
9.9MB/sec |
| Bit Defender |
9.7MB/sec |
| Symantec |
9.5MB/sec |
| F-Secure |
9.4MB/sec |
| Trust Port |
8.7MB/sec |
| G DATA |
8.5MB/sec |
| ESET |
8.3MB/sec |
| eScan |
7.9MB/sec |
| Qihoo |
7.5MB/sec |
| PC Tools |
6.7MB/sec |
| Microsoft |
6.6MB/sec |
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INTERPRETING TEST RESULTS:
The detection rate is the most important factor in determining how effective an anti-virus program is. A drop in performance or false alarm is still preferable to a root kit, key logger or password stealer.
Many users have unrealistic expectations from their 5 year old "bargain" computer. They use it for work and play, and let the kids use it. They download crap, never get it serviced or updated, and just keep on complaining. They look for the cheapest computer and will continue to perpetuate their misery. They got what they paid for.
Obviously performance drops when a program updates or runs a scan. Most of these programs have a relatively small footprint, so performance drops should be negligible. If performance drops drastically, you have exceeded your computer's current capabilities, or you have too many resource hogs running in the background. If any of the top 3 programs brings your computer to it's knees, you have a problem. Get your computer serviced and upgraded, or buy a better computer.
Don't use a product with a low detection rate; compromising security is stupid. Use one that has the 1st, 2nd, or at least the 3rd highest detection rate. Ratings change over time, so call us to find out who's king of the hill before you do something stupid.
A false-positive means a file was flagged that wasn't infected. A false positive is rare, and loosing a file is still better than having your identity stolen, especially when you can replace it from your backup. A slightly larger footprint is still much better than a profiler tracking your child's behavior. In our opinion, penalizing a product for lame reasons is reckless endangerment.
PC World, sales clerks, and other wanna-be technician's are often guilty of such reckless endangerment. In March 2011, PC World gave G DATA the highest detection rate, but gave Symantec top placement. On two previous occasions, PC World rated Symantec down the list when there were no Symantec adds, yet the very next month they had plenty of Symantec adds and surprise, Symantec was rated number one. Sometimes top performers were completely left out. We think the resulting damage to the public should be cause for a class-action lawsuit.
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