AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.0, for personal use only, which now incorporates protection against spy ware through a new combined anti-virus and anti-spy ware engine has just been released and this latest version of the popular free anti-virus tool is now available for download.

According to the developer AVG Free provides basic protection against viruses and spy ware as well as a “safe-searching component” which has been incorporated into the new AVG Internet Security Toolbar.

It’s important to note however, that the free product does not include the proactive safe-surfing (“drive-by download” protection) of the full LinkScanner module, nor protection against hackers, keyloggers, spam, phishing attacks, and malicious file downloads that is included in the commercial AVG product.

Karel Obluk, chief technology officer at AVG Technologies states “With the release of AVG Free 8.0, we are underscoring our belief that all computer users, regardless of their computer usage needs, have the right to a safe and worry-free computing experience.”

Noble sentiments perhaps, but the downside to the release of AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.0 is AVG’s free standalone Anti-Spyware and Anti-Rootkit applications are being discontinued; bad news for those of us who prefer standalone solutions rather than prepackaged suites.

Since it is too early to provide a definitive, comprehensive review of the strengths and weaknesses of this product, various user forums have been polled in order to get a relative feel for the opinions of early adopters. On balance the results have been mixed, with the most common complaint being mediocre detection rates and slow on demand scan times. On the upside, most users seem to like the newly designed GUI.

For those users who rely on AVG’s free products for basic system protection, this new version is likely to continue to meet your basic needs.

Requirements: Windows 2000, XP or Vista.

Download at: Download.com

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