AVG Technologies has not been sitting on its rump and has taken seriously user feedback about some of the issues we have all experienced when using AVG. For those of us who have used AVG for a number of years, we know that scanning a computer can be a long process. We also know that previous versions of AVG sometimes will slow the boot times on some computers. But it seems that AVG has fine tuned AVG Anti-Virus 9 and these problems have basically disappeared.

AVG Technologies describes its latest version:

AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 is faster, safer and easier to use. The combined anti-virus/anti-spyware scanner in AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 runs up to 50% faster than earlier versions. It is rock solid protection that doesn’t get in your way. AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 also delivers new anti-phishing detection techniques, which can quickly and accurately determine whether or not a web page is hosting a phishing attack.

AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 has a secret weapon other anti-virus products don’t have. It has AVG LinkScanner. LinkScanner takes over where your anti-virus doesn’t go — into the depths of web pages you haven’t even visited yet. LinkScanner gives you a vital extra layer of protection you won’t find in other anti-virus software. And you can use it in combination with firewalls and anti-spam products from other companies with no loss of protection or PC performance. Most web threats these days are literally here today, gone tomorrow. So the only way to protect yourself is to use software that checks the page behind every link at the only time that matters – right before you click on it.

Whenever you’re on the web, the moment you go to click on a link, LinkScanner analyzes the page behind that link to tell you whether there’s something nasty hiding there. For added peace of mind, you also get safety ratings for your Google, Yahoo! and Bing/MSN search results.

Additionally, to improve ease of use AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 installation process has been shortened by 50 percent and comes with a new look & feel.

I installed the AVG 9 paid version yesterday, upgrading the paid version of AVG 8.5 on my personal laptop. The upgrade process was quick  and the installation was uneventful. After a reboot of the computer I did an optimization scan, which prepares AVG 9 for future scans. Upon completion of the optimization scan, I did a full system scan to see if there were, in fact, improvements to the scanning process. Scanning is quicker, but not blazing fast. Of course few anti-virus scanners are known for their blazing speeds! No viruses were found, just the standard cookies that I am aware are on my system.

The look and feel of AVG 9 will be familiar to all current AVG 8.5 users. This time I chose to install LinkScanner, which alerts the user of dangerous Web sites. I am also using WOT – Web of Trust – to also identify bad Web sites. So far both seem to be working well together. Eventually I will remove one of the products if both report similar dangers.

The free version of AVG Anti-Virus 9 will be available for download on October 15, 2009. I would recommend that current users of version 8.5 or lower upgrade to the new version. Once the free version becomes available I will review the freebie as well.

If you decide to try the trial of AVG 9, please share your thoughts with us.

Comments welcome.

Download AVG 9 paid version here. [Free 30 day trial available]