In continuing my tradition of giving computer security tips that use without thinking about, but that really aren’t obvious at all. I’m recommending this LifeHacker article about Windows Software to Avoid to you.
I have one addendum to the article. Don’t use Limewire or anything similar to do anything illegal. People frequently get viruses, people frequently get caught – both situations are a lot more difficult to cope with than most people imagine.
I don’t use all of the other software alternatives the article recommends, but the ones I use I agree with their analysis.
One more disagreement with the article: I believe that good anti-virus software is worth paying for. AVG and Avast are pretty good, but computer viruses are dangerous enough that ‘really good’ is worth the extra money. I may soon write a follow-up article on how to protect a Windows computer against viruses (anti-virus software alone is not enough). Stay tuned.
- Edward