AVG Technologies has released AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.0, the latest version of the company’s popular freeware security software, which incorporates protection against spyware through a new combined anti-virus and anti-spyware engine. AVG Free provides basic protection against viruses and spyware, together with the safe-searching component of the their patent-pending LinkScanner technology.

AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.0 does not include the proactive safe-surfing of the full LinkScanner module included in the commercial AVG products, nor the protection against hackers, keyloggers, spam, phishing attacks, rootkits and malicious file downloads that can come through instant messaging and attachments. Also, it does not include anti-rootkit, Anti-Spam and firewall capabilities offered by the commercial versions of the application.

But if you cannot afford the cost of commerical security software including AVG, Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro or Kaspersky, AVG free edition is the way to go since it does include basic real-time protection against viruses, worms, trojans, spyware and malware. Being free doesn’t mean that the software isn’t good. AVG Anti-Virus scores decently in anti-virus tests conducted by various security authorities.

Click here to download the free edition of AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 for Windows XP and Vista.