I would agree with you except that sometimes you just want better performance. My computers all are noticeably slower with Defender than with what I'm using now. I wouldn't use something that makes my computer even slower than with Defender.
You can get better performance with Defender as well by changing maximum CPU usage and some other settings in Group Policy. Windows Defender is actually extremely customizable and you can change almost everything. It's just these settings are hidden for average users, but there is some software which would let users do this in user-friendly interface.
Also Defender is a major target for malware writers. Not too long ago we had malware that was designed to add itself to Defender's exception list and just run without any interference.
Might be true, and this is why it's important to keep Windows up-to-date. In any case, those kind of attacks are extremely rare and there's basically 0 chance of Defender getting hacked on your PC, even if you're not careful at all. Microsoft updates Defender components regularly to fix any found vulnerabilities.
It's also worth to keep in mind, the only way to infect the system is by running malicious files. If you never download suspicious files or just run them, your PC can't get infected. That is in case it's regularly patched.
There are a lot of strange malware samples in the world. But that doesn't mean they are widespread. Malware which completely destroys Windows installation exists, but realistically, how many of you had experience with it? No one. If someone did encounter it, it's most likely they specifically searched for it and not that they encountered it accidentally.
There is no need to buy the ultimate version of any solution. Most of the added services you probably already use a third party anyway. I'm yet to see any security solution that offers Parental Control as good as dedicated software for that, for instance.
You can get really good parental control for free as well by combining public DNS servers with parental control + some free parental control software. I'd even recommend setting your own DNS servers for that matter as you'll have much better control over it.
So while I agree Defender offers more than adequate protection for the average user, I don't think it's throwing money down the drain to have a paid solution or that it's bad to use any of the other free solutions available. It depends on the situation
I have nothing against people using free AV software. If they don't want to use Defender, sure, go ahead and use a free software. But paying for commercial AV software, spending money for a piece of software that will never do anything is something I just can't understand. The whole purpose of those commercial AV software is just upselling you the products that you don't really need. It's like when ISP constantly offers you TV package even though you never watch TV.
