More approachable than ever, with excellent malware detection in an affordable package

With peerless detection capabilities, this well-conceived package is a joy to use.

A winner on the strength of its excellent protection, coming first or equal-first in our malware and firewall test.

With peerless detection capabilities, this well-conceived package towers over its rivals.

A powerful and capable suite with some excellent features, although it isn’t the easiest to use, nor the cheapest around.

Our former champion loses its crown but remains a strong contender.

Symantec’s latest offering is lighter than ever and an extremely effective security package. And get this, a RAM footprint smaller than Kaspersky

A highly usable all-round security suite, but ultimately a strong runner-up rather than a new champion.

A well-featured package with some unusual tricks that falls just short of a first-rate performance.

A simple package whose two detection engines ensure great malware detection, but it fails to inspire in other areas.

Lighter than ever, but its all-round performance isn’t quite first class.

A quantum leap in usability over the previous version, although malware protection could still be better

Fifteen security packages go head to head in our labs test, including Kaspersky, Norton, ZoneAlarm, McAfee, F-Secure and AVG. Find out which will keep you safe and which could let you down.

A capable package, but McAfee Total Protection 2009 is conspicuous and expensive.

A solid, usable package with online backup to boot.

A new interface and extra web-protection capabilities make AVG our top free antivirus choice

A modular scanning tool that catches most unwanted software – but not quite all

A free package that scores highly, beating almost all its big-name competition. It’s just a shame it’s such a nag

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Stack your system full of software without paying a penny, with our guide to essential downloads