Anything is better than Norton. :P

I'm confused! The av-comparatives.org site shows that Avira is very much superior to this product at protecting your PC but the PC Authority reviews indicate AVG is a better product. I agree that the new AVG interface is prettier and that Avira does nag. Does this review mean that that Avira's extra detection is unnecessary for the home user? Is one of these anti-virus programs "safer" than the other (as av-comparatives would indicate) or not?

Slatts, to some extent I agree with you. However, PCA themselves say (in their Avira test) that Avira detects more viruses than AVG. I would have thought that for an a-v progarm, virus detection was the primary requirement and products that performed equally well in this aspect would then be separated on other features. If the detection tests are like those hard drive tests that measure tiny differences in performance that no-one can detect in actual usage, then I'll consider the prettier and friendlier AVG. If, however, we're all vulnerable to all of the viruses in the detection tests, then I'll forego beauty and put up with nags for the sake of safety.
PCA did justify ranking AVG higher - I just need to know whether that reasoning is valid for my circumstances, hence the question about whether one is "safer" in real world usage. This is something I will never know through personal use unless some virus escapes the security net - by that time it would be too late.

Subjectively speaking im sure the best Antivirus in the world isn't very good if it hogs all your system resources and is impossible to use or understand unless you own a degree in anti virus. PC Authority basically subjectivelly takes the tests if you read the review its got good other factors that count. For example Norton is a resource hog that doesn't really help the computer much

this is a very nice one. but the bad thing about it is it has no firewall. firewall is an important security tool. if you want firewall, it is not free anymore.

well as an avid computer user, I just have to put in my two cents, I used various anti virus programs. Most of them do the basics, but u do get what u pay for, Some programs don't detect all the savy viruses. some interfaces are easier to use than others , and some detect false positives, if u dont know much about your computer, its like walking blind folded being directed by someone that speaks another languague. you dont really put much attention untill you get bitten by a malicious virus that screws up your computer. so Ive opted for kaspersky anti virus , not o ram hog , and is functions automatically.