Freeware or Paidware? 'You decide'

[cheesy999]

You talk about AVG being terrible and then say you use Norton and continue to say that it works well. No offense, but thats pure shit. AVG before it got all resource hungry and bloated was a great free anti-virus and ive used it on multiple computers for years if I had a virus it found it. Norton hardly ever finds a virus and is the worst AV ive ever seen other than Mcafee. MSE is 20 times better and is free. If you want to pay for an anti-virus, get NOD32. It will block websites that will try and infect your computer. Cant say the same for Norton or any other anti-virus that I know of. (others could but i just dont know about it)

at the end of the day, norton does a good enough job that malwarebytes can't find anything and i've never had a virus using it, infact i'm still using 2010 cause i can't be bothered to press the upgrade button, the only reason its on norton is because thats what my family members use and if i use another antivirus i always gets blocked by a firewall when attempting to do anything over the network

i do however end up turning off a lot of the 'features' norton offers as they are incredibly irritating

 

[ERazer]

freeware ftw, except for AV and i got Kaspersky. I do have have MS office but my job paid for it.

 

[Completely Bonkers]

My wallet prefers freeware. There is so much of it today, it is brilliant, and in some cases, it's 100% usable and a substitute for commercial. RARELY can it do 100% of what commercial software can do, but oftentimes if you are prepared to work within its limitations, you can get the job done, and done well.

But my productivity prefers professional software, with great feature sets, and a commitment to deliver what is promised and debug. This software is typically paid for. Great examples are Windows, MS Office, internet server software, commercial games, etc.

What really upsets me is professional software at prohibitively high prices, that prices me out of the possibility of using it. e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. GREAT software, but if you are not a professional graphics design company, or a commercial photographer, I really dont know how you can afford it.

But I dislike more the "software as a service" where you pay for some internet based tool but have to pay monthly fees. I would rather buy the software outright. Here the software developer has typically developed something unique (for a while at least) and milks hard the small market that wants to use it. But there are all sorts of security and data management/continuity issues with such a setup. Especially if you want to have an "offline" system and not need to rely 100% on a working and high speed internet connection.

What I absolutely HATE is low-price limited functionality software that never quite fits purpose, is riddled with bugs, has frequent updates, and requires you to pay annual fees for the latest version, or stick with the old, not quite right version you received when you original paid for your license and is rapidly out of date and superseded by other software.

Two pet hates I bought were calendarscope and infoangel. Calendarscope was great at the time, but it just hasnt evolved over time, and small bug fixes and tiny-weany feature updates that are a new .point version require "buying again". The developer at calendarscope was however polite, customer friendly and ready to listen to and make changes. It was obvious that calendarscope has just one or maybe two developers, but they saw their product and service as a business. I just disagreed with trying to milk your existing customers for new fees for small updates.

Infoangel was far far worse. Riddled with bugs. Basic bug fixes requiring more fees to be paid. Non-existent or rude customer service. Poor development and coding skills. Clearly run by an amateur part time who did see their product as useful product that was supposed to be useful to the end customer, but more of a "flytrap" to get someone to buy. But once someone paid for a license, then the interest of the developer had gone. He knew that NOONE paid for re-licensing... so he had no interest in developing or maintaining the product nor relationships with the customer.

There we go. It's true what "customer service gurus" say... treat a customer well and they will tell 5 people. Treat a customer badly and they will tell 5000.

 

[Frick]

kaspersky.


while some people go on about how their free ones are good enough, i have some observations.

I have to disinfect LOTS of computers from virus infections, and some common trends appear.

#1. none of them use kaspersky.

#2. almost all of them have a free antivirus (AVG is the most common)

#3. they're still infected, so the free AV aint working

if i disconnect their hard drive, slap it in my machine and kaspersky can clear everything away including MBR viruses, infected flash drives, the whole lot.

I am yet to run into a virus/infected machine kaspersky could NOT clear off. sometimes a damaged OS was left behind thanks to the viruses, but system restore or SFC / scannow was usually all that was needed to fix them up afterwards.

You should hook up the same users with kaspersky and see what happens.

With that said, I mostly use freeware but some things you can't get for free. There are no better free alternatives to Photoshop, MS Office if you're in a corporate environment with MS software or web design programs.

 

[95Viper]

Darn, thread is turning into another best AV thread!

Well, to get back on topic, I really like Paint.net... (Yes, I have sent donations to the coders)

However,v this v is a pretty good piece of software and just went free recently(he does asks for donations, if you want to).

Chasys Draw IES

Not bad for free, just started to try it, so it is hard to say same as or better or worse than Paint.net. It even has a little benching tool in the help menu,(cute).
It is a very complete package; and, scans clean with Kaspersky AV, SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes.

Like, I said I just started trying it; so, I can't say good or bad. It, however, is not ugly.

Edit: Forgot HWinfo32. Great little piece of software, which is updated continuously...

Also, on tap is the new version of Lego Digital Designer 4.1.6 for all you Lego junkies.
Download Page
Get Started Videos

And, here are some flash games to pass the time: Lego Flash Games


Edit: Forgot to mention HWInfo32, great little piece of software, which the author updates, almost, continuously.
There are hundreds of freeware software out there and I thank all the authors for their efforts and results!

 

[Mussels]

You should hook up the same users with kaspersky and see what happens.

i do. they dont come back until the kaspersky runs out, or their idiot teenaged son uninstalled it because "it didnt like his games."

 

[Wile E]

Norton? that has to be the worst.

You talk about AVG being terrible and then say you use Norton and continue to say that it works well. No offense, but thats pure shit. AVG before it got all resource hungry and bloated was a great free anti-virus and ive used it on multiple computers for years if I had a virus it found it. Norton hardly ever finds a virus and is the worst AV ive ever seen other than Mcafee. MSE is 20 times better and is free. If you want to pay for an anti-virus, get NOD32. It will block websites that will try and infect your computer. Cant say the same for Norton or any other anti-virus that I know of. (others could but i just dont know about it)

No, you guys have no idea what you are on about.

Norton was rewritten from the ground up for the 2009 version. It now matches both Kaspersky and NOD32 in detection rates, and NOD32 in resource usage. Norton blocks websites just like NOD32 and others.

AVG was never good. It has always been a constant false positive machine.

Although I can say that MSE is a great free AV.

I use mostly free stuff. Exceptions being Windows, Games, Office and DVDFab. Used to pay for Kasperky too, but MSE has been working well enough, even on my kids' computer, so I'll stick with it for now. They just want too much money for AV's these days.

 

[Kreij]

I use Symantec End Point Pretection - SBE Suite at work. It works very well.

For me personally, at home, it's freeware all the way.
I use MSE, OO, VS and SQL Server Express Editions, the free version of Fences, Blender, etc.
I only buy games. I'm very generous to Indie develpers (bless their little hearts) and only buy AAA games to support the studios I like.

It's sort of a double edged sword for me. On the one hand I like free stuff that works well, but on the other hand it's hard to make an app to make a little money if you are a coder, as they are all out there for free (or dirt cheap).

 

[Mussels]

No, you guys have no idea what you are on about.

Norton was rewritten from the ground up for the 2009 version. It now matches both Kaspersky and NOD32 in detection rates, and NOD32 in resource usage. Norton blocks websites just like NOD32 and others.

AVG was never good. It has always been a constant false positive machine.

Although I can say that MSE is a great free AV.

MSE has trouble with MBR viruses and a few worms, ran into them recently. it cleans up the majority of viruses nicely, but its just not on par with the paid ones.

 

[Wile E]

MSE has trouble with MBR viruses and a few worms, ran into them recently. it cleans up the majority of viruses nicely, but its just not on par with the paid ones.

Didn't claim it was. Just that it's great for a freebie, and so far, good enough for my needs.

 

[Mussels]

Didn't claim it was. Just that it's great for a freebie, and so far, good enough for my needs.

best backup/on the spot AV i know of, free, easy to install, doesnt break shit or waste ram.

 

[mauriek]

kaspersky.
while some people go on about how their free ones are good enough, i have some observations.
I have to disinfect LOTS of computers from virus infections, and some common trends appear.
#1. none of them use kaspersky.

#2. almost all of them have a free antivirus (AVG is the most common)

#3. they're still infected, so the free AV aint working

if i disconnect their hard drive, slap it in my machine and kaspersky can clear everything away including MBR viruses, infected flash drives, the whole lot.

I am yet to run into a virus/infected machine kaspersky could NOT clear off. sometimes a damaged OS was left behind thanks to the viruses, but system restore or SFC / scannow was usually all that was needed to fix them up afterwards.

agree with this..free AV mostly tend to quarantine an infected files or simply deleted it..just 2 days ago i have to fix 3 office PC infected with Sality virus varian, i tried several AV freeware (Avira, AVG, Norman) and paidware (Norton, etc) but all of them just quarantine/deleted the files but old kaspersky 5 can disinfect it without destroying the files.

for me, the best freeware is utilities/tools, and picture editor..some of them even much better than paid utilities software.