I have had the pleasure experiencing, respectively, the paid choices of Avast!, ESET, F-Secure, Emsisoft, Norton, and Kaspersky, and the well known (free) & ever solid Windows Defender in the interim between each of those mentioned. Also, Comodo with it's Firewall & auto sandboxing during the days XP was going out of support. All these mainly thanks to the generosity of MalwareTips, it's generously kind members (You know whom you are) and each of the respective software developers. I liked every one, and have had no outstanding complaints other than brief incompatibilities which were short lived. Am I a fanboy, then, as ispx astutely pointed out, whom believes my favorites to be the best?
Honestly, this year's model might not be as compatible or carefree as last year's version. Yes, Defender is getting more development attention, though many may never consider it acceptable. I do.
My top four recommendations (at this time) are
- Kaspersky which I'm very pleased with now (& hearing there is now a free version encourages me further)
- Avast! has been progressively developed, and is a very worthy choice that (most agree) is as strong in it's free form as is it's paid. It is one I continue to recommend.
- ESET because it is (has been) trouble free, and consistently among those my fellow members are pleased with (plus my wife likes it a lot!)
- Emsisoft because it works very very well, inspires confidence, and I look forward to trying their Anti-malware (hopefully sometime soon!). Mrs Cats liked their Internet Security. Let's see if pleasant lightning strikes comfortably again.
Truthfully, I'm happy with each and every security software I've tried thanks to the vigilant observations and recommendations of all of you!