After years of staying on the sidelines by offering individual free tools, Kaspersky has finally decided to enter the free antivirus arena. Kaspersky Free Antivirus has everything it needs to successfully join the varied security offerings, but beyond the advantages, its interface is in Russian, and those interested will have to wait for an international build.
The debate over the usefulness of antivirus software remains active, yet the vast majority of users prefer to maintain the status quo by installing at least a free antivirus solution. In recent times, antivirus and antimalware developers have found themselves under scrutiny due to security issues in their code or practices that are not entirely beneficial to the user. While we understand that competing in the free market is extremely complex, users place all their trust in these applications, and it's easy to make them lose it overnight. Recently, Sophos made a big bet with a reduced version of its antivirus, but now it's Kaspersky's turn with its new Free Antivirus.
Russian Only for Now
Unfortunately, we must pause here, as the antivirus only offers support for the Russian language. According to official information and a bit of Google Translate, the release is limited to Russia and Ukraine. Its small installer actually serves as a launcher for a download that exceeds 150 megabytes, and during the process it asks several questions, but with my nonexistent Russian I barely managed to click the equivalent of "Next". Several users have already discovered a way to change the language via a Registry tweak that requires booting Windows in Safe Mode, but that change causes the built-in free license to become invalid, affecting its functionality.
Aside from that, Kaspersky Free Antivirus looks like a good option, assuming its developers are willing to release a compatible international build. Limiting software to a specific region is nothing new, but if Kaspersky's plan is to win users (and potential customers), it will need to go beyond Russia and Ukraine to achieve that.
