ClamWin: Free Opensource Antivirus Option
How many times have you run out of your ‘3-Month Free Trial’ of your Symantic/Norton/McAfee antivirus software? They make you pay a subscription that works out to approximately $100/year for something that I think you should be getting for free. I remember I used to get free virus updates with my IBM Antivirus back in 1996.
In a day where more and more things are becoming Open-source, in a realm that is in by it’s very essence, open-source ( ahem…the Internet), open-source options for software are available for almost anything.
First,
A program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge, ie, open. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community.
www.jahadesign.com/glossary.htm
We’ve got OpenOffice, a full featured office suite. There’s Firefox for safer, faster, Internet browsiner, which, if you don’t have by now, you really, really should. (Wallstreet article | Feature list).
But let’s cut to the chase. This is about ClamWin Free Antivirus.
Pros: Free software, free updates, response time to new infections just as quick, if not quicker, than Symantic/etc. Minimal footprint on your computer meaning it won’t slow down your computer by much at all, except this is mainly do to …
Con: No on-access scanning. All the big-boys scan every file that is accessed/downloaded in the background while you roam about your computer, which is extremely safe (however, it does take up some of your system resources, more of an issue on slower computers.)
Anyways, I’ve used, I like it. However, if you’re a total idiot with your computer, constantly running into viruses and shit, you might want to pay for something like Norton or whatever.
However, if you’re a bit more knowledgeable, and know that you should’nt go around clicking anything you see, or are not on the hunt for the ultimate emoticons, or aren’t accepting any random emails that have you install shit on your computer, ClamWin does everything you need to.
Get