A lot of people use antivirus reviews to help them find the best program, and quite rightly so. However, it is very important that you read reviews that are actually valid and helpful to you. The main benefit of reading reviews by real users is that you will get a sense of how the program actually works. However, you should also look at professional reviews to confirm some of these opinions.
A Word of Warning
You need to watch out for users who seem to have a bias for a specific type of antivirus program. They may be leaving “doctored” reviews. This means that they write a review as if they have used the program, but that they are actually an affiliate of the developer and get paid a commission for anyone who downloads the program.
Security Forums
One of the best places to find honest user reviews is through cyber security forums. While those reviews are left by individuals, those individuals are really experts in their own right. There are many security forums that you can consider, and what should stand out to you straight away is that you will get both positive and negative reviews of each program, rather than only gushing positive opinions.
Quora
Quora is also a very good site to go to. It is essentially a crowdsourcing platform where people can ask questions and others can answer them to the best of their knowledge. You can sign in to Quora with your Facebook account and immediately start to ask questions, or review past answers. Because there is a high focus on tech, Quora has divided their site into easy to understand categories, with the relevant ones to antivirus technology being “internet security”, “anti-virus software”, and “computer security”. Those threads all have thousands of followers, which further shows you that it is trustworthy.
Yahoo Answers
Yahoo Answers essentially works like Quora, but is less focused on experts and more on real everyday users. This will give you real life examples and stories. However, whether you can truly trust the answers that you get can be a bit questionable. While people can vote for their favorite answers, you still don’t know whether they did that because they though the reply was accurate, or just incredibly funny.
Last but not least, there is Reddit. It is different from both Quora and Yahoo Answers because it has very lengthy threads for each discussion. Members, also known as “Redditors” speak for hours about the pros and cons of the answers to any questions they were asked. The downside, obviously, is that it can take a really long time to read those conversations, particularly when, once you get to the end, you find that they haven’t come to an agreement. But, if nothing else, you will have learned a little bit more about whatever question you were focusing on.
These are the three main sources for trustworthy online reviews. But do make sure you get a second opinion before you choose your antivirus package.