New Computer, New Best software
Sunday, 6. July 2008, 01:58:24
Well, after not being on except at work for 2 months, I'm back, with a new, better PC. And as part of that, I've evaulated my necessary software. Some suprising things have changed in the 2 years since I built my last PC. Some of my old "must-have" software is gone, much remains. Security has changed quite a bit in recent years, as has my experiance working in a "real" IT job doing real Systems Administration.
So, what's new? New hardware - Gone SATA finally. XP installs fine. New ASUS mobo - Striker II formula. I'm also back in the Intel camp after what, 8 years? Core 2 Quad 6600 - nice chip, cheap, overclockable. Still nVidia though, 9800GTX 512MB - screaming video card. Great for my 24" widescreen, once I get that installed (have to clean my desk...). I'm also moving to a RAID-Z2 storage array I've built, so 2 of my HDs are out of my PC, with more to follow if all goes well. Looking at 5TB storage once done. On OpenSolaris! Hopefully is SOLID!
Software:
NOD32 - never thought I'd say it, but gone. Lost in the AV-Comparitives, costs $$.
Antivir - IN! Free, rates as good in everything I've seen (and in personal use) as NOD32, so why pay? Plus still just an AV, not trying to be a web proxy (NOD32 v3 sucks for using a third party firewall).
Outpost - Gone. v3 was OLD and newer versions DID NOT get good reviews. After months of testing, Comodo Firewall Pro 3 is solid currently, has HIPS (something I was sad to see go with the death of Process Guard) and really fills in for blocking trojans and just controlling your PC well.
Those are the big changes. Oh, and Opera 9.51 is out and I'm lovin it!
So, what's new? New hardware - Gone SATA finally. XP installs fine. New ASUS mobo - Striker II formula. I'm also back in the Intel camp after what, 8 years? Core 2 Quad 6600 - nice chip, cheap, overclockable. Still nVidia though, 9800GTX 512MB - screaming video card. Great for my 24" widescreen, once I get that installed (have to clean my desk...). I'm also moving to a RAID-Z2 storage array I've built, so 2 of my HDs are out of my PC, with more to follow if all goes well. Looking at 5TB storage once done. On OpenSolaris! Hopefully is SOLID!
Software:
NOD32 - never thought I'd say it, but gone. Lost in the AV-Comparitives, costs $$.
Antivir - IN! Free, rates as good in everything I've seen (and in personal use) as NOD32, so why pay? Plus still just an AV, not trying to be a web proxy (NOD32 v3 sucks for using a third party firewall).
Outpost - Gone. v3 was OLD and newer versions DID NOT get good reviews. After months of testing, Comodo Firewall Pro 3 is solid currently, has HIPS (something I was sad to see go with the death of Process Guard) and really fills in for blocking trojans and just controlling your PC well.
Those are the big changes. Oh, and Opera 9.51 is out and I'm lovin it!
WIDGETIZE
HapSon # 6. July 2008, 02:43
I've never payed for AV, always used the free versions and never had any sort of trouble, Avast updates its virus database every 12 hours or so, seems like you've got a sweet machine..enjoy it