1. BitDefender Standard 9
Performance: Superior, Ease of Use: Very Good, Features: Very Good, Price when ranked: $30, Bottom Line: Inexpensive product received excellent scores in our performance tests, although its scan speed was sluggish.
2. McAfee VirusScan 2006 10.0 (Full Product)
Performance: Superior, Ease of Use: Very Good, Features: Very Good, Price when ranked: $40, Bottom Line: Relatively good heuristics help VirusScan provide solid protection. Phone support costs $3 per minute.
3. Kaspersky Lab Anti-Virus Personal 5.0 (Full Product)
Performance: Superior, Ease of Use: Good, Features: Good Bottom Line: Program had the fastest response to new malware outbreaks. Interface is clean but not exceptional.
4. F-Secure Anti-Virus 2005 (Full Product)
Performance: Superior, Ease of Use: Good, Features: Good Bottom Line: Solid performer responded quickly in tests and provides best breaking news on malware outbreaks.
5. Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2006 (Full Product)
Performance: Good, Ease of Use: Very Good, Features: Very Good, Price when ranked: $40, Bottom Line: Veteren utility offers solid threat detection and a nice interface. Phone support.
6. Panda Software PANDA SOFTWARE Titanium AntiVirus 2005 ( Windows )
Performance: Very Good, Ease of Use: Good, Features: Very Good, Bottom Line: This former Best Buy performed well, but not exceptionally, in our newest nonspyware tests.
7. AntiVir AntiVir Personal Edition 6.32
Performance: Good, Ease of Use: Good, Features: Fair, Price when ranked: Free, Bottom Line: AntiVir performed the best of the free programs, although it failed to clean several old macro viruses.
8. Alwil Avast! Home Edition 4.6
Performance: Fair, Ease of Use: Very Good, Features: Good, Price when ranked: Free, Bottom Line: Free product has a slick media-player-style interface that hides some features. Scan speed was slow in tests.
9. Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 Home Security Pack Single User
Performance: Fair, Ease of Use: Superior, Features: Good, Price , Bottom Line: Former Best Buy performed poorly in heuristics and zoo tests but has the best interface of the bunch.
10. Grisoft AVG Free Edition 7.1
Performance: Fair, Ease of Use: Fair, Features: Fair, Bottom Line: Free program has subpar heuristics and one of the clunkier interfaces among the products we tested.
