German security specialist G Data has been producing antivirus software for over 20 years, but there's nothing retro about AntiVirus 2008.
Open it up and you see a basic user interface giving direct access to the main functions (starting and scheduling scans and updates), as well as a few information panels. Click on Options and you can set some default behaviours and toggle options like heuristics. As with Spyware Doctor (see below left), the emphasis is on practicality.
G Data AntiVirus' secret weapon is its DoubleScan technology, which uses two independent detection engines to scan suspect files. They're referred to simply as 'Engine A' and 'Engine B', with Engine A described as the more effective but slightly more resource-heavy of the two.
In reality, Engine A is a licensed implementation of Kaspersky's scanning engine, while Engine B is licensed from Avast. You can use both in combination or just one if you're worried about resource usage - though in real-world usage we saw no penalty to using both engines, as per the default configuration.
This raises a potential concern: since G Data doesn't own the scanning engines, it's reliant on third parties to keep its libraries up to date. But the Kaspersky engine has a great track record, and runs to a commendable hourly update schedule.
G Data supplements this with its own 'OutbreakShield' system, using data from email security specialists Commtouch to identify traffic patterns that look like a virus outbreak. In theory, this lets it keep malicious emails off your system even before the threat is identified. It may be largely redundant in these days of webmail and hardened email clients, but it's good to have.
Despite its multiple engines, G Data AntiVirus added just six seconds to our boot time (CPU spikes and hard drive activity continued for around 20 seconds afterward, though that's always a hazard on a Vista system). It then occupied 46MB of RAM when idle - the same as Kaspersky.
It was only to be expected that, in our tests, G Data AntiVirus would duplicate Kaspersky's excellent score. But, thanks to the Avast engine, it also flagged up the eGuardian child-protection package that the Russian scanner considered harmless. That's a very impressive performance.
G Data AntiVirus has its share of interface foibles. We've never known a product to provoke so many Vista UAC prompts - even anodyne actions such as opening the "options" window caused a system interrupt. And many windows (such as the virus scan details view) don't appear in the taskbar, which can be confusing.
Another slight downside to G Data AntiVirus is its price. £20 a year isn't extortionate by any means, but Kaspersky 2009 can be found more cheaply online. Since the Russian offering is also more configurable, and gives practically identical protection, we'll keep Kaspersky as our A List choice.
But G Data AntiVirus is a simple, functional package, and when it comes to peace of mind it's hard to fault its 'belt and braces' approach to malware detection.
System Specifications
Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Verdict
A simple package that combines two detection engines for maximum efficacy.
Author: Darien Graham-Smith
PC Pro Online