VIPRE vs. Trend Micro

Choosing the right antivirus protection might seem a bit daunting, so with every review we publish we do our best to distill things to just the facts.

By helping you separate the noise and marketing hype about the latest-and-greatest from the realities, we hope to help your decision easier and more informed.

To help do so, we've added this section to our site with that very goal in mind. This section lets you compare features of today's best antivirus software and see which one is right for your needs at home or the office.

Here, this comparison pits:

VIPRE Antivirus + Antispware
vs.
Trend Micro VirusScan Plus 2009.

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$29.95* Vs. $39.95*

Which Has the Best Real-time Protection?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
VIPRE's real-time Active Protection is turned on automatically (unlike some other antivirus brands). Lab tests from independent facilities showed that VIPRE antivirus accurately found and destroyed a full 2/3 of malware. The remaining 1/3 were accurately found and left for the user to quarantine, delete, or ignore. A great score overall. When VIPRE's real-time protection is enabled, files, web activity, and email are all thoroughly scanned.	Real-time protection is also enabled with Trend Micro antivirus, which we're glad to see. Regrettably, independent testing showed Trend Micro antivirus to be inconsistent when scanning for viruses and malware in real-time. Some test results were positive, while some were negative, which is too bad because Trend has had an excellent reputation in recent years. Overall, Trend Micro's real-time protection has slipped and needs work to get back to where it should be.
RESULT: Winner VIPRE. With Trend Micro being inconsistent, VIPRE antivirus is the clear winner.

Which is Most Effective Against Spyware?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
Antispyware and antivirus are two halves of the same software that work together in VIPRE. Both work flawlessly with each other and no conflicts were recorded with the antispyware portion of the software. VIPRE's antispyware definitions typically take around 10-15 minutes for the initial download, but the next updates download much faster. Overall, VIPRE has managed to make a solid antispyware and antivirus combination.	Trend Micro's record of detecting, removing, and preventing spyware hasn't been improved in this version. Independent testing showed Trend Micro's antispyware feature to be spotty at best. On some tests, the results were quite good, yet we were sad to see on other tests many known spyware samples slipped through Trend Micro's defense. With these types of results, it's hard for us to recommend Trend for daily antispyware duties.
RESULT: Winner VIPRE. VIPRE's antispyware had a stellar record of catching and thwarting spyware when compared to Trend Micro.

Which Has the Lowest Resource Usage?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
VIPRE is well known for their extremely low resource usage. When manually scanning for viruses, VIPRE used less than a fourth of the memory that Trend Micro used. During real-time antivirus protection, less than 1% of computer memory was used. CPU usage during a scan was virtually the same with VIPRE and Trend Micro. Overall, VIPRE leaves a much smaller footprint on PC resources.	Trend Micro in some ways one of the better antivirus applications when it comes to resource usage, very slightly edging out VIPRE for lowest CPU usage in a manual scan. Unfortunately, it used the most memory (over 275 MB in fact!) to get the job done, putting it dead last in memory usage. The same thing happens when Trend's realtime protection is enabled: it comes in next-to-last, taking over 6% of the system's memory. What's most disappointing of all for us is that the high memory usage doesn't mean it's fast, which we'd think it would be: it's near the bottom of the barrel in scan speed.
RESULT: Winner VIPRE. VIPRE wins hands-down with its extremely low resource footprint and fast scanning.

Which Has the Best User Interface?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
The user interface on VIPRE is very simple and straight forward. The main screen shows each section of vital information your need in an orderly fashion, including: previous updates, last scan date, current risk level, and feature options. The scanning results page is plainly labeled and simple enough to figure out what you need to do next. Overall, the user interface on VIPRE is simple and easy to navigate.	The Trend Micro user interface is very pleasant and easy to use. All tasks and status notifications are clearly labeled and easy to identify. The main screen shows all the vital information including: protection status, expiration date, last update, last scan, and security activity. The scan results page is relatively easy to understand and navigate letting you know what needs to be done next.
RESULT: Tie Both VIPRE and Trend Micro present good-looking and easy to use user interfaces.

Which Has the Best Customer Support?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
Sunbelt Software (the makers of VIPRE antivirus) is well-known for its consistently good customer support. All VIPRE customer service reps are based in the United States. All representatives we've spoken with replied quickly and professionally to all support requests; likewise, our visitors also report good things about getting support from Sunbelt. Chat, email, and phone support are all free. VIPRE also includes the standard support resources like FAQs and a knowledgebase. All support links and phone numbers are easy to find and not hidden as we've seen with other antivirus products.	Trend Micro's customer support is better than most brand-name antivirus software. They, too, offer a ticket-based support with free email and phone support--and their phone numbers are easy to find, too. A thorough knowledgebase is available and free chat as well. The only real drawback is that support can be a bit slower than we'd like. Overall, Trend Micro does an admirable job with their support.
RESULT: Tie. While close enough to be called a tie, Sunbelt's reps were consistently a bit faster in their response.

Which is Easiest to Install?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
VIPRE installation is fast and easy. The antivirus software has you select a few basic set-up questions, then the install begins. After the fast install, there will be a slight wait time while VIPRE connects to the database and downloads all current virus definitions. This can take up to 10 or 15 minutes. Future definition downloads will be much faster and smaller.	The Trend Micro antivirus installation is relatively painless. There are only a few set-up options, then the installation gets underway. The biggest hurdle is the virus definitions download that can take up to 30 minutes to complete. Like most antivirus applications, Trend Micro needs to connect to the database to update definitions. After that, future definition downloads are typically much smaller and faster.
RESULT: Winner VIPRE Both VIPRE and Trend Micro were easy to install, but VIPRE wins due to its faster update.

Which Has the Best Email Virus Protection?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
Inbound emails are adequately scanned with VIPRE's email virus protection. All major email clients are supported including: Outlook, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, and Outlook Express. Also, any other email client that supports POP3 and SMTP will work just as well (Eudora, IncrediMail, etc). Overall, VIPRE does a good job with active email scanning.	Average email protection is provided by Trend Micro's active scanning. Inbound emails are scanned for viruses and malware. Most major email clients are supported such as: Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail. Email clients that support POP3 are also supported by Trend Micro. Overall, Trend Micro does an adequate job with email protection.
RESULT: Tie Both VIPRE and Trend Micro do an average job when it comes to email antivirus protection.

What's the Best Antivirus Software?

VIPRE	Trend Micro
In comparing VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware to Trend Micro Antivirus + Antispyware, we give VIPRE the title as the "best antivirus software" of 2009. VIPRE is solid antivirus program with very low resource utilization. The user interface is pleasant and simple enough for the average user. VIPRE's installation is fast and easy with only a few minutes of update time needed. Their US-based customer support is perhaps the best of any antivirus maker we know of. Independent testing showed VIPRE easily scans, blocks, and destroys virus and malware attacks of all kinds. VIPRE is what an antivirus application should be: fast, lightweight, and powerful.	Trend Micro falls behind this year mostly because of its inconsistency with virus and spyware detection. Regrettably, Trend Micro is a resource-hog compared to other name-brand antivirus applications--particularly VIPRE. We also take our hats off to Trend for having one of the best customer service / tech support systems, with an easy-to-find phone number for free support. The Trend user interface is good and the software itself comes with good support. Sadly, the fact that Trend Micro's core antivirus / antispyware has slipped behind the competition pushes it into a lower rank for 2009.
RESULT: Winner VIPRE All things considered, VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware is the clear winner against Trend Micro Antivirus + Antispyware. VIPRE is much lighter on resource usages with better real-time protection against both viruses and spyware. While Trend Micro has a nice user interface and solid customer service, it needs work to compete against the likes of the best antivirus software like VIPRE, BitDefender, and Kaspersky.

VIPRE vs Trend Micro: Conclusion

VIPRE	Trend Micro
#1 $29.95*	#2 $39.95*
* $19.95 with our exclusive coupon.	* No coupon currently available.
CONCLUSION: Winner VIPRE.