AVG / Avast [modified]
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It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
Christopher Duncan wrote:
or does it just sit quietly and do the job?
Avast has its paid version. It is bright and clear on their page when you are required to visit about once a year to update your free license. You register for a free personal license for about 14 months if I recall, then you must renew by returning and reregistering your license. This means you are subjected to their advertising about once a year and then you are done. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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This guy is a troll - I'd ignore him.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
It's Kyle. Bags of food can be purchased for 25 cents. He's a cheap date.:laugh:
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In this day and age I don't think I could ever answer that question with complete assurance. However, given the other utilities that I periodically run coupled with the incriminating evidence of it pointing to a web page advertisement that is clearly on the Grisoft site, I think they're busted on this one. :)
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
I'd believe that if other people are not having the symptom and you are... that vote is not totally in. Got a virtual machine you can load it on to check?
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It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
I never see that behaviour from AVG on Win2k, XP or Vista.
Phil
The opinions expressed in this post are not necessarily those of the author, especially if you find them impolite, inaccurate or inflammatory.
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It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
Christopher Duncan wrote:
Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job?
To answer your questions: I've started noticing that when I log into my Administrator privilege account, I get the web browser pointing to a "You can buy the regular version at" advertisement. It usually occurs whenever I log in. When I log into my User privilege account however, I don't get the web browser with the advertisement. Selective advertisement....:laugh: I dunno if I'd call it sleazy as they do have a right to promote there software. I wish they did give the option of "don't show me this again" (which would probably be a cookie setting that would get replaced/lost everyday I clean my browser cache:doh:).
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It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
I've only seen this when reboot/starting up my machine. I figured, it's a small price to "pay" for free ... but I'm waiting until COMODO's Anti-Virus[^] software comes out of beta, and then I'm moving to it.
:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL -
It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
AVG and Avast are two separate products...I have used Avast for years and have never seen a popup advertisement. Mostly just use it for the email scanner cuz viruses regularly get past it. I use Avira AntiVir for my main anti-virus...it has a free version that does popup advertising when you update the proggy or the v-list. So far, Avira AntiVir is the best one with a free version that I've tried.
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It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
As far as I know free version will only install on desktop OS's that are not joined to any domain (if you try to install free version on a server or on domained workstation it will ask you to buy). It has been this way for quite a while, although I don't really know for how long. Regarding popups, yeah I've gotten few of those asking me to buy stuff at discounted price (I think no more than 3 in total) about a week ago every time update ran. However, as I said I think I've only had 3 pop-ups total, and I think they've stopped. As annoying as it is, and as much as I wouldn't want this to set a trend in Grisoft advertising, 3 popups a year is a small price to pay for fully functioning anti-virus suite.
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It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
I found AVG to work well and be of value so I paid for it. I'm pretty certain they've had a paid for version for quite a while, it's nothing new. To say dark side and sleazy about a company wanting to make money, a company I might add that consistenly has one of the top rated products in it's category seems a little unfair. I suspect they might have realized that they've been putting in a lot of work for very little reward and are attempting to adjust that imbalance. It's amazing to me that we've come to a point in this day and age where it's considered normal and even expected to be given something for free that takes a lot of money and effort to produce. Where this bizarre culture of entitlement is going is anyone's guess but frankly it's far sleazier than even socialism which is sleazy at best. No offence mate but if anyone came up to me and said I was being sleazy for attempting to make money off my hard work I'd be fighting an urge to slap them upside the head.
More people died from worry than ever bled to death. - RAH
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I've only seen this when reboot/starting up my machine. I figured, it's a small price to "pay" for free ... but I'm waiting until COMODO's Anti-Virus[^] software comes out of beta, and then I'm moving to it.
:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTLWhy? Is it proven to be better than either?
"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." - Rick Cook "There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance." Ali ibn Abi Talib "Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?"
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job?
To answer your questions: I've started noticing that when I log into my Administrator privilege account, I get the web browser pointing to a "You can buy the regular version at" advertisement. It usually occurs whenever I log in. When I log into my User privilege account however, I don't get the web browser with the advertisement. Selective advertisement....:laugh: I dunno if I'd call it sleazy as they do have a right to promote there software. I wish they did give the option of "don't show me this again" (which would probably be a cookie setting that would get replaced/lost everyday I clean my browser cache:doh:).
Yeah, perhaps sleazy is too strong a word. However, having a browser suddenly pop up from nowhere is reasonably startling behavior that tends to make folks twitch. But then, perhaps the years in this business have damaged me psychologically by inscribing a certain paranoia into my genes. :)
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
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I found AVG to work well and be of value so I paid for it. I'm pretty certain they've had a paid for version for quite a while, it's nothing new. To say dark side and sleazy about a company wanting to make money, a company I might add that consistenly has one of the top rated products in it's category seems a little unfair. I suspect they might have realized that they've been putting in a lot of work for very little reward and are attempting to adjust that imbalance. It's amazing to me that we've come to a point in this day and age where it's considered normal and even expected to be given something for free that takes a lot of money and effort to produce. Where this bizarre culture of entitlement is going is anyone's guess but frankly it's far sleazier than even socialism which is sleazy at best. No offence mate but if anyone came up to me and said I was being sleazy for attempting to make money off my hard work I'd be fighting an urge to slap them upside the head.
More people died from worry than ever bled to death. - RAH
A well deserved slap upside the head for my poor choice of wording is humbly accepted. And of course, you've been around long enough to know what an unabashed capitalist I am, so I certainly have no quarrel with anyone wanting to be paid for their work (oh, if only people felt that way about musicians). My reaction wasn't because they're advertising to me, which is a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. In fact, there's an Upgrade Now ad in the product UI itself that I don't object to in the slightest. What caused me to twitch was the thought of any program, theirs included, randomly launching a browser on my computer. Even though I don't question their credibility for a moment, it's nonetheless just a touch on the creepy side, hence my ill conceived phrases regarding the undesirable side of the Force and a word more commonly used to describe lawyers and politicians. So, consider me suitable chastised for speaking ill, but I hold to my perception that popping up unrequested programs on a person's computer in this day and age is a questionable practice. :-D
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
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A well deserved slap upside the head for my poor choice of wording is humbly accepted. And of course, you've been around long enough to know what an unabashed capitalist I am, so I certainly have no quarrel with anyone wanting to be paid for their work (oh, if only people felt that way about musicians). My reaction wasn't because they're advertising to me, which is a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. In fact, there's an Upgrade Now ad in the product UI itself that I don't object to in the slightest. What caused me to twitch was the thought of any program, theirs included, randomly launching a browser on my computer. Even though I don't question their credibility for a moment, it's nonetheless just a touch on the creepy side, hence my ill conceived phrases regarding the undesirable side of the Force and a word more commonly used to describe lawyers and politicians. So, consider me suitable chastised for speaking ill, but I hold to my perception that popping up unrequested programs on a person's computer in this day and age is a questionable practice. :-D
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
Christopher Duncan wrote:
I hold to my perception that popping up unrequested programs on a person's computer in this day and age is a questionable practice
Yeah I suppose. If it poppped up when the app was started I would call it fair, but if it pops up out of the blue then that's definitely questionable. I shut my computer down now at night and the other day I fired it up, began working, opened subvesion, visual studio, fogbugz, started coding away and suddenly my computer shut down. No warning at all. When it came back up I checked and a service pack had been installed automatically shortly after I fired it up that morning. I found the setting and turned it off so it will only prompt me if there are service packs to install, but that pissed me off no end. Literally right in the middle of typing some code, no popup, no warning at all. However I decided that there was a work around and it wasn't worth the time and effort to complain about it to Microsoft and get embroiled in some hell about how it was only my station like the 3 other times I used MS "support" in the last 2 decades. Sorry to jump on you like that, your post seemed to echo a trend I've seen lately around the 'net and the world at large. Plus I've been reading a lot of Heinlein lately and it's fanned my "individualism" flames. :)
More people died from worry than ever bled to death. - RAH
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
I hold to my perception that popping up unrequested programs on a person's computer in this day and age is a questionable practice
Yeah I suppose. If it poppped up when the app was started I would call it fair, but if it pops up out of the blue then that's definitely questionable. I shut my computer down now at night and the other day I fired it up, began working, opened subvesion, visual studio, fogbugz, started coding away and suddenly my computer shut down. No warning at all. When it came back up I checked and a service pack had been installed automatically shortly after I fired it up that morning. I found the setting and turned it off so it will only prompt me if there are service packs to install, but that pissed me off no end. Literally right in the middle of typing some code, no popup, no warning at all. However I decided that there was a work around and it wasn't worth the time and effort to complain about it to Microsoft and get embroiled in some hell about how it was only my station like the 3 other times I used MS "support" in the last 2 decades. Sorry to jump on you like that, your post seemed to echo a trend I've seen lately around the 'net and the world at large. Plus I've been reading a lot of Heinlein lately and it's fanned my "individualism" flames. :)
More people died from worry than ever bled to death. - RAH
John Cardinal wrote:
Sorry to jump on you like that, your post seemed to echo a trend I've seen lately around the 'net and the world at large. Plus I've been reading a lot of Heinlein lately and it's fanned my "individualism" flames.
No worries, man. It was taken in the intended spirit, and given the way I presented myself you were right to do so. :) Besides, I couldn't agree more with your overall point of the "something for nothing" / entitlement attitude so prevalent today. In fact, just got through addressing that concept in some detail in a chapter I just finished for the new book. Since it's about American society, my points are limited to my countrymen, but I think that globally the only entitled people are those who created the products and services, not those who demand them for free. What with music downloading and all, ours appears to be an unpopular stance. Makes me worry for the future when the young and entitled of today become the leaders of tomorrow.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
I hold to my perception that popping up unrequested programs on a person's computer in this day and age is a questionable practice
Yeah I suppose. If it poppped up when the app was started I would call it fair, but if it pops up out of the blue then that's definitely questionable. I shut my computer down now at night and the other day I fired it up, began working, opened subvesion, visual studio, fogbugz, started coding away and suddenly my computer shut down. No warning at all. When it came back up I checked and a service pack had been installed automatically shortly after I fired it up that morning. I found the setting and turned it off so it will only prompt me if there are service packs to install, but that pissed me off no end. Literally right in the middle of typing some code, no popup, no warning at all. However I decided that there was a work around and it wasn't worth the time and effort to complain about it to Microsoft and get embroiled in some hell about how it was only my station like the 3 other times I used MS "support" in the last 2 decades. Sorry to jump on you like that, your post seemed to echo a trend I've seen lately around the 'net and the world at large. Plus I've been reading a lot of Heinlein lately and it's fanned my "individualism" flames. :)
More people died from worry than ever bled to death. - RAH
...most of this 'popup' business is Microsoft's own fault for conceiving it during when they were flogging that 'push marketing' thing...hackers instantly jumped on it as a way to introduce viruses...anything that 'pops up' on my machine without my initiating it is considered viral in my view, so they should find some other, more acceptible way to push things. Something like an 'updates are available, click here to update' thing which leads you to a page with advertising would be alright. I don't like anything 'automatic' going on, personally.
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It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
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Why? Is it proven to be better than either?
"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." - Rick Cook "There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance." Ali ibn Abi Talib "Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?"
Mustafa Ismail Mustafa wrote:
Why? Is it proven to be better than either?
No, because I generally use different virus scanners on various machines, so if something gets past one, it might be caught by another. As for testing itself, COMODO does produce a top notch firewall, I have high hopes they can do the same for their anti-virus product.
:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL -
It seems now that Grisoft has paid versions of AVG to sell they've embraced the dark side. I've been happily running their free version for years, but now it's starting to launch a web browser pointing to ads for their products on a fairly regular basis. Above and beyond the annoyance factor (and Vista doesn't care for this behavior at all), it's actually ironic that the software I use to protect me from viruses is now behaving like one. I know that many here think highly of Avast. Are they pulling this same sleazy tactic with their free version, or does it just sit quietly and do the job? [edit] Given the reaction by a number of people I respect to my characterization of this as "sleazy," I thought I'd clarify. I've always thought highly of the AVG folks, and my quarrel is not with their advertising to me. That's a perfectly fair tradeoff for a high quality free product. They have advertising in the product UI that I find very acceptable. What I object to is any program, theirs included, randomly launching unrequested programs on my computer, browser or otherwise. It has an invasive feel to it, and is simply a bit on the creepy side. So, to be specific, my issue is not that they're advertising, but rather the mechanism that they're using - one that looks and feels so much like a virus that many have asked me if I was sure it wasn't malware. With that said, I officially retract the sleazy comment, and I ascribe "creepy" not to AVG, but to the virus emulating mechanism itself. Fair is fair. :-D [/edit] -- modified at 16:40 Monday 26th November, 2007
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Coming soon: Got a career question? Ask the Attack Chihuahua! www.PracticalUSA.com
I got the AVG browser launch for the first time today when I started up my machine...and again when I did a click on the toolbar ICON and select "Check for Updates"... Steve
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I've been using Avast since moving to Vista - no ads or what not so far...
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't. "I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it." -Tina Farrell, a 23 year old thicky from Levenshulme, Manchester.
I second that. Avast is just too good.
Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself. - Cicero .·´¯`·->ßRÅhmmÃ<-·´¯`·.