Now you might be thinking that I must be out of my mind? But the very definition of free has changed. Today, there are sites like Download.com or 4shared and the like which offer free softwares, they make us believe that whatever they offer are free of malware, spyware & virus in their policies.
If you're a Novice (not tech-savvy) you would actually believe them and download all the softwares from their database cause its freee,.. you're getting it for free. And if you're a tech-savvy or geek, you'd know in an instant that these sites offer what's called 'Bundled Softwares'. Yes these reputed sites have ties with third party companies which offer more than 2 or even 3 installation softwares with just one.
A best example would be 'Adobe Flash Player'. You go to get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ and you'll see 'McAfee Antivirus' downloaded by default. This is just to emphasize that a non-geek wouldn't know all these stuff and would simply click Download -> Accept-> next -> next -> Install.
Downloading bundled software decrease your PC performance and makes your pc more vulnerable to viruses, malwares. Some of these bundled softwares even contain fake applications. Yeah I tested it out on Virtual Box.
So my advice to you ? Don't believe in 'free' word on the Internet except for Linux & Linux related applications cause they really are.. 'Free as in Beer' reference. I'd suggest you download softwares from Torrentz.eu.
If you're a Novice (not tech-savvy) you would actually believe them and download all the softwares from their database cause its freee,.. you're getting it for free. And if you're a tech-savvy or geek, you'd know in an instant that these sites offer what's called 'Bundled Softwares'. Yes these reputed sites have ties with third party companies which offer more than 2 or even 3 installation softwares with just one.
A best example would be 'Adobe Flash Player'. You go to get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ and you'll see 'McAfee Antivirus' downloaded by default. This is just to emphasize that a non-geek wouldn't know all these stuff and would simply click Download -> Accept-> next -> next -> Install.
Downloading bundled software decrease your PC performance and makes your pc more vulnerable to viruses, malwares. Some of these bundled softwares even contain fake applications. Yeah I tested it out on Virtual Box.
So my advice to you ? Don't believe in 'free' word on the Internet except for Linux & Linux related applications cause they really are.. 'Free as in Beer' reference. I'd suggest you download softwares from Torrentz.eu.