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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Panda Antivirus Pro 2011


Panda Antivirus Pro 2011
Panda Antivirus Review

While Panda Antivirus Pro may not be the best antivirus software, it is certainly very good. The software includes several advanced features and tools to keep your PC safe, and Panda is easy to use. Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 has some compelling features that make this solution definitely worth considering.

The new edition is still missing a few advanced features that we’ve seen elsewhere, but has added several new capabilities. This year introduces a gaming mode, home network manager, virtual keyboard and secure virtual browser. Overall, Panda has a trusted solution that while not the best, is more than sufficient.

Scope of Protection: 

Panda Antivirus Pro is equipped with the right protection to secure your computer from threats of all kinds, from viruses to spyware, to rootkits, exploits, and a variety of other threats. This wide-range of protection is made possible by incorporating traditional virus signatures and proactive heuristic detection with an integrated personal firewall.

Panda uses a combination of security measures to provide multiple levels of protection. Of course the software has traditional antivirus and antimalware protection, but they’ve also been providing proactive behavioral scanning and heuristics for several years with their TruPrevent technology. Adding to their arsenal, they have made a big push with cloud security. Collective Intelligence is their version of community security that makes each participating user a sensor for everyone else, all collaborating via the internet “cloud” to have better security while requiring fewer resources.

Effectiveness: 

Panda is an effective antivirus software, and has earned checkmark certification from the West Coast Labs (for viruses, malware, spyware, and Trojans). Panda Antivirus Pro has also met the requirements to be ICSA certified. Recent tests by AV Comparatives were positive as well, but caught the software struggling with “overprotecting” and false positives (the software identifies files as malware when they are actually safe).

One of the reasons that Panda is so effective is because they include up-to-date security technology, including advanced heuristic detection and a firewall. The software even has the ability to monitor your wireless network and prevent intrusions.

Ease of Installation: 

Panda Antivirus 2010 is straightforward and easy to install. The software only takes a few minutes to completely install, and doesn’t require a system reboot.

While the antivirus software isn’t running a scan, it’s very non-intrusive, and only takes about 5MB. Panda has also worked on their scanning performance stats from last year and significantly improved. In fact, their scanning speed is currently one of the fastest in the industry.

Ease of Use: 

Panda’s interface has been redesigned, but maintains the same basic organizational layout. The software is pretty straightforward and provides simple access to all the essential features. Running manual antivirus scans or scheduling them for later is pretty easy. But even better than easy to use software is a program that can basically run itself, and Panda is engineered to keep optimum protection without requiring you to constantly monitor or update.

Features: 

One unique feature from Panda is the USB Vaccine. This simple utility allows you to “vaccinate” your PC from threats that take advantage of the “Autorun” technology and are able to infect your computer the instant an external USB drive is connected to a computer.

Another great feature is the TruPrevent Technology 2.0. This system uses behavioral analysis of files to detect malware-like activity and stop files before they have the chance to infect your computer.

Panda Antivirus Pro also has a number of new features this year, including a gaming mode. This setting allows you to enjoy full-screen video games or movies without interruptions, as the software suspends any popup warnings or alerts. Another new tool is the Home Network Manager, which lets you monitor and appropriately protect and update any PCs on your home network.

The software also now has a virtual keyboard. This utility is basically a digital keyboard that you use your mouse to click on letters rather than the keyboard. It’s intended to be used when entering sensitive information (credit card numbers, passwords) online to avoid keyloggers.

Rounding out the new feature list is the innovative secure browser. The virtual browser runs in a remote environment, distinct from your system. So while you’re online using the isolated browser, any malware you run into has no chance of infecting your actual computer. We don’t recommend using it for everyday internet use, but it could definitely come in handy if you’re visiting risky sites (or for kids who are particularly virus-prone).

Updates: 

Updates for Panda Antivirus Pro are setup to run automatically in the background, and occur daily to ensure that your system is always up-to-date with current virus signatures. As mentioned earlier, the Collective Intelligence and cloud computing technologies help deliver timely updates without compromising performance.

Help & Support: 

Panda’s antivirus software is pretty easy to use, but if you need additional assistance you can refer to the in-program user manual, or find some answers online. On Panda’s online support center they host a user forum, support blog, and a product-specific FAQs section.

Summary:

Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 features some great features and is an overall effective solution. We appreciate the new features, improved performance and redesigned interface. While there are better options available, we can still recommend Panda Antivirus Pro.





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