McAfee is one of the most used antivirus solution providers, and has been in use since the first appearance of the viruses. McAfee provides a full range of security products such as antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware programs. McAfee Antivirus comes with a set of features that will keep your computer free of viruses, worms, Trojans and other malicious programs.
History of McAfee Antivirus:-
History
McAfee was founded in 1989 by John McAfee, who made his first antivirus solution available as shareware. In 1992, McAfee became McAfee Associates, Inc. Since then, it has focused on antivirus and security solutions and quickly become one of the giants in this field.
McAfee was founded in 1989 by John McAfee, who made his first antivirus solution available as shareware. In 1992, McAfee became McAfee Associates, Inc. Since then, it has focused on antivirus and security solutions and quickly become one of the giants in this field.
Features
McAfee bundles a lot of features into its antivirus. Besides the classical protection features found in most antivirus products, McAfee also integrates a Silent Full Screen feature, which stops all antivirus notifications from being displayed while full screen applications are running, so it won't interfere with your work. The Secure File Shredder feature is another useful feature, which will allow you to permanently and totally delete confidential files, without leaving any traces of them and eliminating all recovery possibilities. It is also optimized for laptops, by integrating a battery-saving mode that will leave intensive scans that require more power and resources for later, when your laptop is plugged into an electricity source.
Costs
As of 2010, McAfee's basic antivirus suite, McAfee Antivirus Plus, comes at link for a one-year subscription. The more powerful versions, McAfee Internet Security and McAfee Total Protection,
Advantages
McAfee bundles a lot of features into its antivirus. Besides the classical protection features found in most antivirus products, McAfee also integrates a Silent Full Screen feature, which stops all antivirus notifications from being displayed while full screen applications are running, so it won't interfere with your work. The Secure File Shredder feature is another useful feature, which will allow you to permanently and totally delete confidential files, without leaving any traces of them and eliminating all recovery possibilities. It is also optimized for laptops, by integrating a battery-saving mode that will leave intensive scans that require more power and resources for later, when your laptop is plugged into an electricity source.
Costs
As of 2010, McAfee's basic antivirus suite, McAfee Antivirus Plus, comes at link for a one-year subscription. The more powerful versions, McAfee Internet Security and McAfee Total Protection,
Advantages
McAfee Antivirus includes many features at decent prices. The protection level is decent enough for most users. Updates are provided regularly, and the entire updating and maintenance process happens in the background, without the need for user intervention or interference with the tasks on the computer. Another advantage of McAfee Antivirus is its simple interface, which gives you quick access to all features.
Product Reviews
Computer Shopper Magazine gave "McAfee Total Protection" a score of 2.5 of 5 stars. They concluded "McAfee Total Protection 2012 has plenty of security tools and protects against malware well enough, but once an infection takes place, it’s not good at removing it. Add in a not-so-intuitive interface, and you have a security suite that best suits security mavens, not casual users."
Computer Shopper Magazine gave "McAfee Total Protection" a score of 2.5 of 5 stars. They concluded "McAfee Total Protection 2012 has plenty of security tools and protects against malware well enough, but once an infection takes place, it’s not good at removing it. Add in a not-so-intuitive interface, and you have a security suite that best suits security mavens, not casual users."
CNET Magazine gave "McAfee Total Protecion 2012" a rating of 3.5 of 5 stars. They concluded " McAfee has made good products in the past, and it may well do so again. However, the combined performance marks are a horror show, and there are too many inconsistencies throughout the rest of the suite to overlook benchmarks in favor of reputation."
Expert Reviews evaluated "McAfee Security as a Service" and concluded "An easy to use web interface fails to make up for shockingly poor defence against malware."
PC World gave "McAfee Internet Protection 2012" a rating of 3.5 of 5 stars. It finished 14 th in their 2012 "Roundup of Internet Security Suites". They concluded "we find it difficult to give this package a recommendation considering its low ranking."
NextAdvisor.com gave "McAfee Internet Security 2013" 4 of 5 stars. However, they concluded "with the same old interface and the same old features as last year, McAfee isn't doing much to compete with the other top security software suites, which makes the 2013 version a bit of a disappointment for us."
Neil Reubenking of PC Magazine gave "McAfee Total Protection 2012" a favorable review overall, because the suite "offers a huge array of security-relevant features, among them file encryption, shredding, intruder detection, and more. Its spam filter is accurate and parental control is much improved." However, he added that "its essential antivirus protection doesn't measure up to the very best."
Laptop Magazine gave "McAfee Total Security 2012" 3 of 5 stars. They concluded "McAfee's new security suite introduces several new features, but its performance impact during full scans gives us pause. "
Rating Description
Interface
Like most other anti virus programs McAfee Anti-Virus contains a stylish interface.
Like most other anti virus programs McAfee Anti-Virus contains a stylish interface.
Ease of use
Easy to use application with a comprehensive manual to help users. Preferences and the general interface doesn’t contain technical terms.
Easy to use application with a comprehensive manual to help users. Preferences and the general interface doesn’t contain technical terms.
Memory usage
The one reason that blurs any of the good points this program contains. Consumes a LOT of memory, whether it’s during scan or real time protection. There are around seven processes running for the program. If your computer has specifications that are compatible for Vista it should be sufficient. Anything under that, I doubt the program would even startup. Tested with 512MB RAM it still slowed down the computer quite a bit.
The one reason that blurs any of the good points this program contains. Consumes a LOT of memory, whether it’s during scan or real time protection. There are around seven processes running for the program. If your computer has specifications that are compatible for Vista it should be sufficient. Anything under that, I doubt the program would even startup. Tested with 512MB RAM it still slowed down the computer quite a bit.
Popularity
While several new equally good programs have been developed over the years the undoubted reputation McAfee gained in the past still remains and many people still stick to McAfee strongly.
While several new equally good programs have been developed over the years the undoubted reputation McAfee gained in the past still remains and many people still stick to McAfee strongly.
Price
One of the main advantages of the program. Compared to other anti virus programs McAfee is relatively cheaper.
One of the main advantages of the program. Compared to other anti virus programs McAfee is relatively cheaper.
No. of bugs
Like most other programs McAfee has been well tested and barely contains any bugs at all.
Like most other programs McAfee has been well tested and barely contains any bugs at all.
Full scan duration
With the high memory consumption it takes up as mentioned before, it’s pretty obvious that scanning duration would be quite long too so if you choose McAfee you’ll rarely perform a full scan because of the time it takes, which makes your computer vulnerable.
With the high memory consumption it takes up as mentioned before, it’s pretty obvious that scanning duration would be quite long too so if you choose McAfee you’ll rarely perform a full scan because of the time it takes, which makes your computer vulnerable.
Memory usage while scanning
While the full scan duration maybe a long time if the program consumes little memory during scanning you could definitely multi task and eventually complete the scan. Unfortunately though, the memory usage too is a bit too high so you’ll have to leave your computer alone until the scan completes.
While the full scan duration maybe a long time if the program consumes little memory during scanning you could definitely multi task and eventually complete the scan. Unfortunately though, the memory usage too is a bit too high so you’ll have to leave your computer alone until the scan completes.
Virus detection rate
When it comes to detection rate McAfee would still be somewhere at the top of the list. While there maybe other programs with better detection rates, McAfee should be sufficient to keep those viruses away.
When it comes to detection rate McAfee would still be somewhere at the top of the list. While there maybe other programs with better detection rates, McAfee should be sufficient to keep those viruses away.
Updates
Updates are released quite frequently and can be downloaded of their servers. Here again though the servers aren’t the fastest in the world.
Updates are released quite frequently and can be downloaded of their servers. Here again though the servers aren’t the fastest in the world.
Security Backup measures
McAfee provides general backup features with quarantining features.
McAfee provides general backup features with quarantining features.
Other Details
Other features:
With the McAfee Anti-virus you get other features like the personal firewall and the file shredder as well.
While the above points have been outlined you may not find the above review accurate compared with the demo version of McAfee. The PLUS version and demo versions are like two different programs. The Demo version is a much ‘light-weight’ program which does not consume much memory at all.
With the McAfee Anti-virus you get other features like the personal firewall and the file shredder as well.
While the above points have been outlined you may not find the above review accurate compared with the demo version of McAfee. The PLUS version and demo versions are like two different programs. The Demo version is a much ‘light-weight’ program which does not consume much memory at all.
Overall
While McAfee anti-virus has some points to be impressed about like detection rate and the other extra features provided with the package, it would not be recommended for computers with under memory of at least 512MB RAM. Nevertheless it is still a good Anti-virus solution.
While McAfee anti-virus has some points to be impressed about like detection rate and the other extra features provided with the package, it would not be recommended for computers with under memory of at least 512MB RAM. Nevertheless it is still a good Anti-virus solution.
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