Microsoft Windows users who rely on Ad-Aware SE Personal (the free version) to protect their machines from spyware and adware should be aware that Lavasoft, the company that makes the popular program, stopped shipping updates for the software after Dec. 31.
People who want to continue using Ad-Aware can upgrade to Ad-Aware 2007. (the installer for the new version should automatically remove older Ad-Aware versions). Ad-Aware Plus and Professional users (as well as enterprise customers) will still be able to retrieve definition updates, according to a clarification posting on Lavasoft's user forum.
Ad-Aware 2007 includes a couple of important changes, notably the dropping of support for any Windows operating system prior to Windows 2000. It also runs Ad-Aware as an ever-present Windows service, which strikes me as a curious decision, since my impression is that most Ad-Aware users use the program for on-demand scans rather than any kind of real-time detection. At any rate, Lavasoft explains its reasons for this change here:
http://www.lavasoft.com/support/faq_aaw2007.php#15
I'd be interested in hearing from readers who are experimenting with the new version, as I haven't used anti-spyware software in close to two years now. I run my Windows systems under a "limited user" account for everyday use, which in my experience pretty much eliminates the threat from adware and spyware.
For those folks who feel that dealing with a limited user account is too much of a pain (some applications simply don't work well under limited user accounts without some serious tweaking), a similar and less restrictive solution is to use "Drop My Rights," a program that helps you set up your most commonly used applications so that they cannot be used as a conduit to change system settings or install additional software.
People who want to continue using Ad-Aware can upgrade to Ad-Aware 2007. (the installer for the new version should automatically remove older Ad-Aware versions). Ad-Aware Plus and Professional users (as well as enterprise customers) will still be able to retrieve definition updates, according to a clarification posting on Lavasoft's user forum.
Ad-Aware 2007 includes a couple of important changes, notably the dropping of support for any Windows operating system prior to Windows 2000. It also runs Ad-Aware as an ever-present Windows service, which strikes me as a curious decision, since my impression is that most Ad-Aware users use the program for on-demand scans rather than any kind of real-time detection. At any rate, Lavasoft explains its reasons for this change here:
http://www.lavasoft.com/support/faq_aaw2007.php#15
I'd be interested in hearing from readers who are experimenting with the new version, as I haven't used anti-spyware software in close to two years now. I run my Windows systems under a "limited user" account for everyday use, which in my experience pretty much eliminates the threat from adware and spyware.
For those folks who feel that dealing with a limited user account is too much of a pain (some applications simply don't work well under limited user accounts without some serious tweaking), a similar and less restrictive solution is to use "Drop My Rights," a program that helps you set up your most commonly used applications so that they cannot be used as a conduit to change system settings or install additional software.