I received Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 from the Amazon Vine Reviewer Program. Because I received the 3-license version I installed it on two PC's: desktop running Vista 32-bit and a desktop running Windows 7 64-bit.
I had planned on also installing it on an XP desktop as this software gives you one code to license 3 machines for 1 year, however that is being old and fussy upon this writing and may need to die a natural death, thus I may have to install Kaspersky on yet another Win 7 machine instead. I will update this review after the third install.
**Note that this software works with 32 and 64-bit Windows OS's Vista, XP and 7, but doesn't support Mac.**
The Positives:
Installation on both machines was easy, but much quicker on the Windows 7 machine. Probably more about the OS than this software. On both the Vista and Win 7 PC's the system moved quicker than with other antivirus' used before - Trend Micro on one and Kaspersky Pure on the other were both removed and PCs rebooted prior to fresh install of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012.
The interface is simple, yet full-featured. I liked how uncluttered it is and how easy it is to find what you want to tweak to your liking. The defaults seem to be set correctly for both web browsing and email, and the only real issue right away was spam filtering needed to be set-up.
The software makes recommendations which were helpful, but realize they are not must-dos. In this way, the security is helpful. Parental controls are there, as are 'Tools'. In Tools I created a Rescue Disc - burned it to a CD, although you can put it to a USB too. This is to be used in the event of a virus taking over your system - this would help you get it back.
Also in Tools is a Browser Configuration - but it's only good for Internet Explorer - which I don't use. Privacy Cleaner - something that can be found in many good free programs - is also in Tools. Microsoft Windows Troubleshooting is there as well. I think that may be helpful, but I've yet to use it.
Applications activity is good info, but overwhelming for novices I'm sure. Network monitor is helpful too, although most people running with a wireless router would have that information already and not need to look in Kaspersky for it.
Run Safe for Websites is a neat idea, and I've been using it. Essentially you are able to block out unwanted sites this way, and great if you have kids in the house, but may inadvertently block things you want too. Time will tell if consistent use of this feature yields positive results.
Virtual Keyboard...I'm never sure how I'd use this, other than if my mouse worked and my keyboard was locked. A good feature in that case for sure, but I'm betting I forget I have it the next time that happens.
Reports, quarantine... all the standard features of a good security suite are here. But you have some extras too like an IM (Instant Messenger) Antivirus as well as Proactive Defense, which is getting to the bugs before they hit your system.
Overall I like this software, but I have to admit - in all honesty, I'd rather have a Kaspersky product on my PC than any other on the market to date. I've tried BitDefender, Trend Micro, Panda, McAfee, Norton, AVG and others, but none comes close to the Kaspersky products for ease of use and speedy protection.
I also like the cloud technology. Takes a bit of getting used to, but really lightens the load on your machine and works well.
The Negative:
The reason for a 3 vs.5 star review is that the full scan of the entire system took 8 hours on a 500GB hard drive. To complete a scan that took
Kaspersky Pure 3-User 90 minutes to do, on the same PC. That's WAYYYYYY to long and quite frankly, unexpected! The indicator of how long it would take to complete continued to jump around and was never accurate either. My PC is connected via a high-speed connection, but truly, this scan was like it was connected to dial-up. Very bad Kaspersky...you're better than this one!
My guess is that the 'hybrid technology' being tied to the 'cloud', is the core of the lack of speed for a scan. Don't allow your PC to go into sleep mode either, as that stops the scan all together!
This negative was a disappointment for me. I think the security suite is excellent otherwise, but this lack of scanning speed, is something that Kaspersky should work on improving in 2013 and beyond.
I would only recommend this software to those users who don't mind a slow scan. Yes, it can and does scan in the background while you do other things, but that slowed the process even further!
Conclusion & Recommendation:
Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 is a feature-rich program which offers protection for online banking, social networking and all the usual suspects: malware, virus', bots - known and unknown. The software is essentially excellent, with one problem: extremely slow scanning of your computer for virus' and other bugs.
If you're looking for a security suite for Windows-based PCs... this is a good choice, but not if you're in a hurry to do a full scan of your system!