As you may envision, we get plenty of emails here each week. Among probably the most typical concerns are:
What's the best antivirus software program for [insert some seemingly unique condition here? What has much better antivirus protection Product X or Product Y?
Questions like these are what led to the creation of this head-to-head antivirus comparison section so shoppers could effortlessly compare one antivirus application versus another and get the best remedy for their certain needs. This page compares:
Which Has the most beneficial Real-time Protection?
BitDefender's real-time antivirus protection automatically scans net pages, Pc files, and e mail usage by default. With a 96% rate, BitDefender testing showed that this antivirus application can defeat the majority of incoming viruses and malware (no antivirus is 100% accurate). BitDefender's real-time antivirus protection is world-class with acceptable imperfections.
For probably the most element Norton gets it proper with real-time antivirus this year--except it is nevertheless too resource intensive. E mail, internet pages, and files are all scanned in real-time with Norton's active real-time antivirus protection. Independent testing showed Norton to complete just along with the competition in scanning and protecting against incoming virus and malware attacks. Norton does a passable job with pretty solid (albeit slow), real-time antivirus protection.
Result: Winner BitDefender BitDefender testing proved to be each better in accuracy and quicker.
That is Most Effective Against Spyware?
BitDefender's real-time protection also protects against incoming spyware attacks. Hourly spyware definitions are downloaded to help keep your Computer secure with all the most present security. Independent tests showed BitDefender to become as very good with antispyware as it is with antivirus. Good work.
The antispyware function in Norton is comparable to its antivirus characteristic. Antispyware updates are existing and quickly (often within five minutes!) Testing showed that Norton antivirus is equally potent against viruses as it is with spyware as well as other malware threats.
Outcome: Winner Norton Each do an excellent job in deflecting spyware, but Norton's virus definitions tend to come faster than BitDefender.
Which Has the Lowest Resource Usage?
BitDefender usually carried out far better than Norton when resource usage was concerned. During a manual scan, BitDefender utilized 25% much less memory than Norton did. The percentage of CPU used throughout a scan was slightly higher for BitDefender. Throughout real-time protection, however, BitDefender utilized much less than 4% although Norton employed more than 4% of memory.
Although this version of Norton is considerably better with resource usage than prior versions, it nevertheless falls behind considerably of the competitors. A manual scan showed Norton employed 25% more memory than BitDefender. The CPU percentage utilized during a scan was just beneath BitDefender. However, Norton proved to be too heavy in the course of normal, real-time protection coming in over 4% of memory.
Result: Winner BitDefender Norton gave a good effort, but it really is nevertheless too sluggish for the duration of real-time scanning.
Which Has the most effective User Interface?
The UI (user interface) for BitDefender is normally clean and straightforward to use. Each and every section of functions is accessible by way of tabs rather of on one handy page. This demands the user to perform a bit of digging to get exactly where they need to go, but is still intuitive. Overall, BitDefender's UI is not cumbersome or hard to navigate.
Norton's UI offers you plenty of data, but we disliked a few of the details presentation and general organization. We saw some users having difficulty finding a grasp on exactly where they essential to become from time to time. For example, often the navigation you need is on the left, at times it's on the top, and some other screens show a multi-layer expansion. It is just too cumbersome for a thing as ubiquitous as an antivirus application. There are several pop-up screens to deal with, and too numerous details to examine that most users will probably just uncover irritating.
Result: Winner BitDefender Despite the fact that BitDefender's UI is not excellent, it's far better than Norton's style mismatch.
Which Has the best Buyer Assistance?
We're sorry to say BitDefender has had many complaints about their antivirus consumer help. Whilst they do supply free of charge chat, e-mail, and mobile phone help, you happen to be essential to click via at the very least 12 distinct steps just to obtain access to telephone support. Then once there, you happen to be necessary to develop a brand new account ahead of you are able to ask your question. In our opinion, telephone support should be quickly, totally free and straightforward to locate. If other companies like Sunbelt, makers of VIPRE antivirus, have managed to perform it with out breaking the bank, we really feel BitDefender can, too. Knowledge base and FAQs are also obtainable.
One particular of Norton's major failings for so long as everyone right here can don't forget has been its lack of very good customer support. They still insist on pushing for paid tech assistance when most other organizations give some form of standard phone support for free. Although the information base is extensive and fairly great, Norton just must make totally free phone support an easy solution for their users.
Result: Winner BitDefender BitDefender wins by a hair only because they do not charge for cellphone assistance.
Which is Easiest to Install?
The installation approach for BitDefender antivirus is quick and painless for essentially the most element. A regular install wizard walks you via some basic set-up fields, then the installation will complete with no any issues. Resource usage is minimal throughout installation, and you shouldn't have any true hang-ups.
The installation for Norton antivirus is more rapidly this year, taking only about a minute. The normal installation wizard will take you through the essential actions for a quick install. 1 crucial note, if you decide on to uninstall, not all registry components are uninstalled (which can present troubles down the line). And their LiveUpdate system must be separately uninstalled. Not as clean as the uninstall need to be.
Outcome: Winner BitDefender While Norton installs fast and effortless, the sloppy trail left behind right after uninstall is unacceptable.
Which Has the best E-mail Virus Protection?
For some reason, BitDefender chose to produce their e mail antivirus characteristic disabled by default. This is concerning thinking about so many viruses and spyware are transmitted through email--particularly by way of Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express. Email protection is easily turned, though, on within the Advanced View section, which we advocate BitDefender users do. Once enabled, BitDefender does an excellent job at scanning incoming emails for possible threats.
E-mail protection is enabled and does a decent job at protecting your Pc against incoming virus and spyware threats. E mail antivirus protection is accessible for standard mail customers like Outlook, Outlook Express, and POP3 and SMTP supported e-mail clients (like Thunderbird or Eudora). Simply because it relies on exactly the same antivirus scanning engine because the rest of their software program, it does have a tendency to be slower than a lot of other competitors and also more resource intensive.
Outcome: Tie When active, each BitDefender and Norton do an sufficient job of scanning incoming emails with Norton becoming slower when dealing with large emails and/or ones with attachments.
What's the most effective Antivirus Application?
We can't say BitDefender Antivirus was our "best antivirus software" choice this year, but they did prime our list final year as a solid Computer security solution. In spite of the lack of very good consumer phone support, BitDefender is nevertheless 1 of our leading recommendations for good quality antivirus protection. The antivirus and antispyware functions are exceptional, along with the resource usage falls into the acceptable range. General, still a fine antivirus item.
Norton has produced a ton of enhancements this year and has regained some of its status as a viable antivirus application. However, their paid telephone support nonetheless must be corrected, and their user interface needs to be rethought. The resource usage is mainly acceptable, but real-time protection can drag down the typical Pc user from time to time. Norton antivirus is still a viable contender, but for most shoppers you will find likely to be far greater alternatives for antivirus programs.
Outcome: Winner BitDefender BitDefender nonetheless holds a top position on our site as a result of its constant performance exactly where it counts: antivirus and malware protection. Norton is really a bit on the costly side, needs far better client assistance, along with a better user interface.