Anti-virus suggestions needed

[ihaunter]

AVG never discontinued their free version.
They forced an upgrade a couple of times, starting with 7.5 for vista compatibility iirc, and they presented ads for the pay-for-version in a slightly larger font than the links to the free version.

I don't understand why people continue to say they don't offer a free version. It seems a common misconception, but I'm absolutely baffled as to why. In my last job, customers would come in and have the pay-for version or Norton installed on top and claim it was because AVG stopped being free. If I was faced with having to stick my credit card into the slot in the front of my computer (wait, that is how you do it, right?) I'd take a heartbeat to read what was on the screen in MASSIVE LETTERS first.

It's because the notices they put out when they discontinue the older versions are poorly worded (or well worded if your goal is to get people to buy the not free version). The MASSIVE LETTERS you are talking about is usually something like "Free AVG7 will no longer be supported, buy AVG8 today!" It's the smaller print that shows how to get the free version. Since they don't make money from the free version, it makes sense that they would push the pay-for, but that push often causes confusion.

 

[TheDaver]

Oh, something else I forgot to mention about AVG:

If your computer has a SD/CF card reader, AVG will make it next-to-useless. After removing a card from the reader, you have to reboot the computer for it to be able to read another.