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.

2. McAfee VirusScan 2006

Bottom Line: Relatively good heuristics help VirusScan provide solid protection. Phone support costs $3 per minute.

3. Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0

Bottom Line: Program had the fastest response to new malware outbreaks. Interface is clean but not exceptional.

4. F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006

Bottom Line: Solid performer responded quickly in tests and provides best breaking news on malware outbreaks.

5. Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2006

Bottom Line: Veteren utility offers solid threat detection and a nice interface. Phone support costs $30 per incident.

6. Panda Software Panda Titanium 2006 Antivirus + Antispyware

Bottom Line: This former Best Buy performed well, but not exceptionally, in our newest nonspyware tests.

7. AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 6.32

Bottom Line: AntiVir performed the best of the free programs, although it failed to clean several old macro viruses.

8. Alwil Software Avast Home Edition 4.6

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 Security 2006

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

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

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