How important is having the latest version of AV sfw?

[Bodine]

Long story short... I bout McAfee v4 several years back with a lifetime subscription to updates. McAfee renegged on thier update guarantee and as a result of a class-action suit I now have a "perpetual" version of McAfee v8.

It appears I can continue to get updates for v8 indefinately. Assuming I'm up-to-date on virus definition files, how at-risk am I going to be 2 years from now when McAfee v11 is out? Are new versions *that* innovative when it comes to virus detection, or are upgrades more feature/function oriented?

 

[mechBgon]

In McAfee's case, you want to have the latest definitions (DATs) and the latest engine. The engine counts, some threats cannot be detected/fixed without the latest engine (currently 4.4.00 or 4400 for McAfee, they're beta-testing the 5000 engine now).

Another example would be Symantec. The 2004 and 2005 products have detection for "expanded threats" like spyware/adware, the 2003 and older don't (and the latest virus definitions won't help that). Anyone can see the value in upgrading to gain adware/spyware detection.

Kaspersky Lab is adding a rootkit detector to their next-gen personal antivirus product, they say. So when Kaspersky puts out the next-generation product, it might be worth buying it for that capability if a person runs lots of risks (warez, etc).

So bottom line, it's doubtful that McAfee will release updated engines for v8 indefinitely, and there will probably come a time when you stand to benefit from letting go of that version and getting a newer one.

 

[Bodine]

Thanks. I did see the reviews on av-comparitives that seemed to show Kapersky consistently had the best detection rates, so I may look into that down the road.