1. BitDefender 9 Standard 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.Full Review • Test Report • Vendor's Website
Last Rated: January 25, 2006
2. McAfee VirusScan 2006Performance: 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.Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: January 25, 2005
3. Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0Performance: Superior, Ease of Use: Good, Features: Good, Price when ranked: $40,
Bottom Line: Program had the fastest response to new malware outbreaks. Interface is clean but not exceptional.Full Review • Test Report • Vendor's Web Site
Last Rated: January 25, 2006
4. F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006Performance: Superior, Ease of Use: Good, Features: Good, Price when ranked: $40,
Bottom Line: Solid performer responded quickly in tests and provides best breaking news on malware outbreaks.Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: January 26, 2006
5. Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2006Performance: 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 costs $30 per incident.Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: January 26, 2006
6. Panda Software Panda Titanium 2006 Antivirus + Antispyware Performance: Very Good, Ease of Use: Good, Features: Very Good, Price when ranked: $50,
Bottom Line: This former Best Buy performed well, but not exceptionally, in our newest nonspyware tests.Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices 7. AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 6.32Performance: 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.Full Review • Test Report • Vendor's Website
Last Rated: January 25, 2006
8. Alwil Software Avast Home Edition 4.6Performance: 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.Full Review • Test Report • Vendor's Website
Last Rated: January 26, 2006
9. Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security Security 2006Performance: Fair, Ease of Use: Superior, Features: Good, Price when ranked: $50,
Bottom Line: Former Best Buy performed poorly in heuristics and zoo tests but has the best interface of the bunch.Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: January 25, 2006
10. Grisoft AVG Free Edition 7.1Performance: Fair, Ease of Use: Fair, Features: Fair, Price when ranked: Free,
Bottom Line: Free program has subpar heuristics and one of the clunkier interfaces among the products we tested.Full Review • Test Report • Vendor's Website