At the beginning of 2006 Google announced a new product called the "Google Pack." The Google Pack is essentially a selection of over 10 free software packages including free anti spyware & anti virus software. At the center of Google Pack there is an installer which simplifies the task of managing and keeping all the software updated.
To start with Google offered 2 good anti virus and anti spyware software programs. The anti virus software was Symantec's Norton Anti Virus 2005 - not the latest version of the product but a more than competent ant virus solution. The major limitation with this product was that only 6 months of free virus definitions were provided after that point the user needed to upgrade.
The anti spyware software was provided by Lavasoft. The product was called "Ad-Aware SE" which was already freely available for free on popular download sites like CNet's Download.com. The spyware detection capabilities were good but by no means the best. You also needed to manually remember to update the spyware definitions and initiate scans.
In the Spring of 2007 Google replaced the free spyware & anti virus software offered by Google Pack. The anti virus software was still supplied by Symantec however the Norton Anti Virus 2005 was replaced by a special edition of Norton Security Scan which scans and also removes virus threats. The product is based on the award-winning Norton AntiVirus products. More importantly Norton Security Scan provides free updates and is not limited to just 6 months.
Google also replaced the anti spyware software with Spyware Doctor Starter Edition. Spyware Doctor consistently scores very highly it most magazine test and is usually fighting with Webroot's Spyware Sweeper for the 1st or 2nd spot. While the Starter Edition lacks some of the active spyware prevention features of the full version it still retain the powerful scanning and detection capabilities. As with Norton Security Scan definitions are free and automatic for life.
Google Pack also contains a number of other excellent applications. In my opinion Norton Security Scan and Spyware Doctor are good enough reasons to download Google Pack. You can learn more from the link below. If you are looking to protect your computer there is no better free spyware anti virus software download available.
