Eset is very well known for its NOD32 antivirus protection which is considered to be the most advanced and secure protection for your PC. Eset Smart Security (ESS) is going to be the next big release by Eset and it will not only cover antivirus protection, but it will also include a built-in firewall for the first time. The final form of the security suite is not expected until later this year, but Eset is now seeking testers through a public Beta program.
To get involved yourself you either need to visit the Eset Smart Security 3 Public Beta 1 Homepage or use this link to download the Beta (Download Mirror). I recommend registering for the Beta program because maybe they’ll give you a free year of virus protection or something when the final version is released. 
ESS Public Beta 1 requires Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP (x86), Windows Server 2003 (x86), or Windows Vista (x86). Once installed this is what you’ll have full access to:
- The next version of ESET’s anti-malware engine (NOD32 v3.0)
- A personal firewall with port stealthing and advanced filtering features
- Antispam filtering with Bayesian filter, whitelisting and blacklisting.
Now you do have to remember that this is a Beta application, and that some things may not go as expected. Here is the heads up that Eset provided over in the forum.
ESS is the first, brand-new version of security software to be released by ESET in several years. NOD32 v2.70, v2.51 and earlier releases were version upgrades, all based on the 2.x codebase which dates back to 2003.
ESS is not production code, but beta code. Unlike previous beta test cycles which tested updates to a mature codebase, ESS represents a brand-new codebase and some of the experiences you have with it will mirror those which occurred with NOD32 v1.0 and v2.0 beta-test cycles.
The Public Beta 1 drop of ESS is going to contain some rough edges, such as unfinished screens, missing online help sections and so forth. It is also going to contain bugs (errors in the program, not viruses).
I will be installing this sometime this weekend to test out the stability and features, but in the meantime here are a bunch of screenshots that Brian posted in the Wilders Security Forum (click on any to enlarge them):
The new interface is definitely refreshing compared to the stripped down appearance that the old version had. I’m sure such a drastic change will upset some people, but this is something that was definitely necessary to keep up with the other more modern looking software. I think this will be a really great piece of software once it reaches its final form…now if only they would follow the lead of other security suite distributors who are now letting users install the software on 3 PC’s for each license they purchase.
Eset Smart Security 3 Public Beta 1 Homepage (Download Mirror)
I’ve installed it, it works quite good, only crashed once, but for what I can see, it really slows down my download speed with uTorrent
I’ve guess its the beta season. cause my Nod32 counterpart at computer security, Agnitum Outpost Pro, also [agnitum.com] with there new suite, which will now have a anti-virus model 2.
did any1 gave a try?
p.s. Ryan, u did get my tip about it, right?
“considered to be the most advanced and secure protection for your PC”
by whom??
I disagree with that sentence.
Kaspersky is #1 as per elaborate series of tests consistently. Check [virus.gr]
Kaspersky is an excellent product but for me, Nod32 is the best: lightweight and an excellent detection rate.
well, in the same batch of tests, the best Heuristics results were of Nod32.
so i think you won’t find nod32 a bad choice.
in any case, i also like it cause of it’s small footprint.
[av-comparatives.org]
It has the best heuristics engine of any AV,u understand heuristics,coz if u do and still disagree then u obviously dont know wat ur talking about.
Im testing ESS its freaking awesome,lightweight,no heavy ram and cpu utilisation,unless ofcourse u ppl runing 20MB RAM
Yep, I got your tip…I’m gonna hopefully try it out sometime this week. I’ve just never used an Outpost product before so I want to see what it is like first.
I’ve seen several tests in the past where NOD32 has the best heuristics protection available. It catches the most viruses before they are actually put in the virus definitions. With so many new viruses popping up everyday it isn’t possible for antivirus companies to update the definitions immediately after a new virus is found, so the heuristics is almost the most important thing.