Windows Defender vs Avast: The Better Choice?

[ascendant]

For years, I used to use Avast, as I heard a lot of negative stuff about Windows Defender, and how it was inferior. That was years and years ago though. Last year, I had an IT specialist try to tell me that Windows Defender is better than Avast, because even if you disable Windows Defender, there's still some components of it that run in your background, so it just bogs your computer down and takes up more resources. So then when I built my new rig, I've just been using Defender so far, but I don't like it.

I take everything I hear with a grain of salt, IT or not. I've also read numerous articles over the years that shows Avast uses less resources than Defender. Plus, I like that Avast isn't as intrusive (once you disable all their optional components), and doesn't automatically take it upon itself to quarantine something even before asking me. Meanwhile, I've had Windows Defender quarantine something, ask me after the fact if the file is ok or not, and even after I check off that it's ok, I'm unable to retrieve the file and they keep it quarantined. So, I really don't like Defender, but wanted to see... does Avast use less resources? Would it be the better choice?

 

[manly]

I'd use Defender, but Avast Free is top-rated:

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/avast-one-essential

Having said that, Avast was purchased by NortonLifeLock so I'm sure they've been planning how to enshittify Avast.

 

[Tech Junky]

No AV here. I used a Linux boot USB and ripped out the msft crap and never looked back. If I do happen to grab something infected there's plenty of alarm bells going off re login attempts.

The other option is to not use Windows at all since that's the primary attack.

 

[Steltek]

Either is fine for an average user who isn't purposefully visiting questionable websites or running questionable software.

 

[ascendant]

I'd use Defender, but Avast Free is top-rated:

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/avast-one-essential

Having said that, Avast was purchased by NortonLifeLock so I'm sure they've been planning how to enshittify Avast.

Oh, that's really good to know! I don't know enough about Norton to say whether they are better or worse than Windows, lol. Either way, I have no doubt that Avast is going to go downhilll as well

 

[ascendant]

Either is fine for an average user who isn't purposefully visiting questionable websites or running questionable software.

I do both, lol.

But I mean seriously, I know how to determine good vs bad torrents, or anything else that could come from questionable sources. Every once in a rare while though, something gets through. I'd say it's probably been about 10yrs or so, but I like to have at least some sort of antivirus on my PC, plus Malwarebytes installed to run in case of any issues too.

I do know enough to have a separate partition specifically for my OS, so if something does get on there, my files, software, etc. are all fine (plus, a backup external drive, which I admittedly don't use nearly as often as I should)

I know I should be using Linux, but I've used Windows since Windows existed. I have so much software for it now that switching over is just something I don't have time to do. I'm sure I could run most of it on Linux one way or another, but I don't have the time. I'm back in college full-time, kids, and having to re-learn C++ and refreshing myself on LaTeX again as well. Too much on my plate already. One day, I'm sure I'll switch over, or at least do what I used to... have a separate partition with Linux. I don't on my new rig simply because I never used Linux. It just took up space

 

[manly]

Oh, that's really good to know! I don't know enough about Norton to say whether they are better or worse than Windows, lol. Either way, I have no doubt that Avast is going to go downhilll as well

Some of us have used PCs since the bad old days of DOS in the 1980s, and Peter Norton has a very rich history in PC lore. His utilities software was the standard back then, and Symantec's Norton AntiVirus was one of the first popular AV products in the early 1990s.

After the world transitioned to Windows 95, NAV had a poor reputation as a resource hog. It took Symantec a very long time until Norton AntiVirus became a competitive product again (perhaps mid 2010s or so).

Anyway, Symantec acquired LifeLock back in 2017 and that was a company that served no public good. I guess LifeLock hasn't ruined the company yet, so perhaps Avast (based in Prague, Czech Republic) has a chance after all.