Right now I am using Kaspersky anti-virus. It is really good. But I believe Norton antivirus is the best if you own a system with good configuration.
First of all, it's not like Ubuntu is immune to viruses, especially as it is open-source. Second, completely changing operating systems when you have already payed for one isn't really a great option, especially as Linux is alot more advanced than windows and the average PC user would be confused before long. Finally, in 'a windows world', Norton is the worst option you can take. I have often said Norton itself is a virus. It takes over your system, does stuff you don't want it to do, and is a bugger to remove. Plus it hardly removes any viruses. And you have to buy it. Norton rely on the idiots of the computing world.. people who have no idea what they are doing (ofcourse their are exceptions, I'm not saying you are an idiot, that's just what I've found) Personally I prefer AVG 8. I've never switched or considered switching anti-virus softwares, since it has never failed to detect or remove a virus. It also handles rootkits and spyware for you, though I have Spyware Doctor and Lavasoft Ad-Aware as backups. And AVG is free, though their is a paid version (no idea what the benefits of buying it are)
It is far, far less likely a Linux system would become infected. Being open source does not make it any more vulnerable either. Of course it is. You don't have to waste time chasing down infections or buy a new one every 3 years or buy new hardware to make it run every 3 years (or less). Ubuntu is very friendly for the average user. Especially for the one who only wants to surf the web and write letters. No one needs a 3Ghz 3Gb $200 Vista OS with advanced graphics processing for that.
Yes, it is much more safe, but it dosn't mean it is immune. That's what I was saying. And the fact it is open source may make it more vulnerable for finding loopholes in the system to make viruses less detectable etc, however it also means the loopholes will be found and fixed faster as everybody can examine the code. Huh? Forgive me if I misunderstood, but did you just say you have to buy a new PC / new OS every time you get an infection? Not true.. It has it's advantages but for the average PC user the disadvantages outway them. For example, most programs and games the average PC user might want to play are incompatible. And it's unfamiliar territory. If something goes wrong, people don't know where to turn.
No. I'm saying every time a new version of Windows comes out you need to get a new PC to run it cause it requires more processing power and ram. The problem is people want Linux to be the same as Windows. If they let Linux be Linux and run Linux programs then this isn't an issue. Linux users don't expect Windows to work the same as Linux. There are tons of friendly Linux forums and tutorials on the net so, again, this isn't an issue.
But why would you want to switch? I mean what advantages does Linux hold for the *average of user*? You can secure windows with a good firewall and anti-virus, switching operating systems seems a liitle far-fetched. I used Linux to host a game server years ago, and whilst I enjoyed working with a new system, I still believe windows is the better OS for home users and still holds the second best title for servers and office working
I use AVG, but to be honest, since I installed SWB and it's text files, I haven't even seen any threats for my AV to react to. And with activeX and Java off, also, what can I say? No viruses for years.
Lol again this same thread... http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=742157 http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1021154
What does the average user gain by using Windows? It's the applications that matter and the average user uses a browser, email and a word processor (ignoring games for the moment). The same version of all 3 of those is available on Linux so why spend $150 or so on Win, buy a multi-core multi-gigabyte system for thousands when just to do that you can get the OS for free, run the same apps all on a P4 with 500Mb as I am right now? And far, far more secure than Windows without all the security stuff. Now, granted, Ubuntu would be the more user friendly version, and it isn't as smooth as Vista, but if Grandma can get her son to slip the disk in and install it for her, Grandma won't know the difference; nor will the average Joe Plumber who wants to just surf the web and watch YouTube. And Linux holds the best title for servers and technical use. Now, I differentiate between an OS and applications. Windows is by far the worst operating system vs anything 'nix/BSD. My wife and I were talking about this a few months ago. Her mother is constantly getting viruses and adware on her computer. It's so bad that I don't even bother to "fix" it. I reformat and reinstall everything, but I have to do that every six months, and it's tiring. So I asked her, "What software does your mother use?", and she said, "Just the stuff you put on it. Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.". That's all. iow, the same stuff I run on my Linux computers. So why does she need Windows? In that same discussion, she said her mother thought she needed to just buy a new computer. But her computer has more power than the one I'm using right now! So this post has actually reminded me of all that and I'll bring it up with her again in the morning. That is, installing Ubuntu on her mother's computer.
Lol. You guys gotta do this each time..? The reason Linux has such a low infection rate is because it has such a low usage rate, like barely 2% IF that... Why would a hacker or anyone want to make a virus/malware/etc for an Operating System that no one uses compared to that of Windows with a staggering 92%, if the person who made the virus or whatever had any brains and wanted the virus to amount to anything they would target it at a system that has many users, in other words, Windows Back on topic... I have AVG installed, but I don't use it, I just use it to shut the Security Center up
None... Let me rephrase a bit... In a way I use it, I only run it every month if that, never finds anything. A lot of the problems is people don't pay to much attention to what they are downloading/installing and is a major cause