AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition promoting upgrade to their not-free product which most people don’t need

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition has recently been aggressively promoting an upgrade to their not-free Internet Security software. In my opinion, this is an upgrade which most people don’t need.

The upgraded software adds Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam and Firewall protection – most of which is redundant protection that most users already have. While their Anti-Spyware product is good, it is also available as a free separate download. Most email providers offer spam protection/filtering, and AVG’s Anti-Spam product only works in an e-mail client such as Outlook Express. Windows XP and Windows Vista already have an inbound firewall, and hardware routers offer inbound firewall protection. AVG’s outbound firewall is similar to other outbound firewalls that pop-up sometimes confusing questions when it detects outbound internet access.

In summary, I don’t recommend upgrading to their Internet Security product.