I used to be a strong recommender of AVG. In their last version they changed the way that DNS (Domain Name System) stuff works (or doesn't work).
What's DNS? What change did they make? What should we use instead?
DNS is the way that your computer changes names to numbers. When you type in google.com, your computer really wants to know that google is at 173.194.32.104. You can type in the number directly, and it might even come up faster, since your computer doesn't have to look up the number, it just goes there directly. It's easier for you to remember google.com instead of 173.194.32.104, isn't it? That's what DNS does. If google changes their addresses, you still only have to remember google.com, since DNS would know if the numbers changed.
AVG changed the way that DNS failures work in it's default settings. When it can't find ggoogle.com (because you typed google.com wrong) AVG now sends you to their server, which says that ggoogle.com can't be found, instead of letting your computer give you the message that it can't be found.
I don't want AVG getting in the way of my error messages. If it doesn't work, I don't want AVG to tell me I'm wrong, I want my computer to tell me I'm wrong. With BlueberryNetworks, I count on specific error messages to tell me what's wrong with the internet connection. AVG has added another level of difficulty to the troubleshooting challenge.
So what am I recommending now? Microsoft Security Essentials. Here's an article about why it's good. In summary, free, easy, works well with all versions (later than win 2000/me ) of Windows.
