Top Antivirus Software

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, Price when ranked: $40,

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, Price when ranked: $40,

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 costs $30 per incident.

6. Panda Software PANDA SOFTWARE Titanium AntiVirus 2005 ( Windows )

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.

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 when ranked: $50,

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, Price when ranked: Free,

Bottom Line: Free program has subpar heuristics and one of the clunkier interfaces among the products we tested.