

ESET NOD32 Antivirus proactively detects and disables viruses, trojans, worms, adware, spyware, phishing, rootkits and other Internet threats.

Norton AntiVirus 2010 defends your PC against viruses, spyware, bots, worms, and more without slowing you down or getting in your way. Intelligence-driven technology identifies and targets only files at risk, for faster, less frequent scans. Vulnerability Protection prevents threats from exploiting security holes in your PC's software. Pulse Updates every 5 to 15 minutes and real-time online security checks help ensure continuous, up-to-the-minute protection against the latest threats.

Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware is a stripped-down security option, offering only the most basic of protection. That's not a bad thing, but except for the Smart Protection Network, which leverages anonymous data from customers to block malicious threats that are manifesting on users' computers, we're not sure how this differs from its freeware competitors.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus does a better-than-average job of keeping your PC safe, but it lacks the robust feature set of its more-expensive sibling. Several new features have made it into this version along with expected upgrades to the anti-virus engine, but one of the best--the Safe Run program sandbox--is sorely missed.