It’s  been some time since I’ve installed the Google Pack, so I haven’t been keeping up with the changes. (I stopped installing most of it after I stopped using Firefox and they stopped offering Star Office.) Now the things offered have been replaced by other programs, and Google Earth, though entertaining, is not otherwise that useful to me. No, the zenith for the Google Pack was when Star Office, Firefox, Norton AntiVirus, and Google Search were the top dogs, and that has been some time.

Perhaps in a move to make the Google Pack more acceptable to the new users, Google has decided to stop using a Norton Scanner that did little to nothing, and instead use avast! antivirus, which has consistently gotten good reviews, and is a different interface for the people who like to try something new, now and then.

[Download Squad]

It was really just a matter of time before avast! replaced Norton Security Scan and Spyware Doctor in the Google Pack. After last month’s introduction of Google as an opt-in during avast! installs, most of us fully expected Google to return the favor.
A quick look at the options on the Google Pack Web page reveals that the change has begun. Right now, only users from certain countries will receive avast! in their download (Poland and Italy, for example).
The relationship between the two companies will no doubt mean big increases in the number of installs for both Chrome and avast!. The world’s most popular free anti-virus software and, well, Google — together? That’s the same kind of superhuman duo as Jan and Zayna! [the Wonder Twins]
OK, it’s probably a little more effective than “shape of a booby!” “form of an ice anvil!”… but you get the idea.

It pays to read. I had no idea before reading this that avast! was the most popular free anti-virus. I would have guessed it was AVG, based on the number of cases where I’ve seen it in use, and the amount of space it gets in the press.

With this, it might make a much bigger splash. after all, not everyone wants to use Microsoft Security Essentials, either because of its behavior, or a personal feeling about Microsoft.

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