(PROBABLY BIASED OPINION INCLUDED HERE)

I have purchased computers that came with McAfee installed, but when I went to the McAfee website to get setup information it took me longer to clear all the popups and gratuitously downloaded "offers" than for any other site of any kind that I've visited in years. That was the main reason I got rid of McAfee. The program is good, but the site was almost "a virus of its own kind."

That was a couple of years ago, and casual visits to their site indicates that they may have cleaned it up some; but there was still some evidence of "profit driven" (popups-for-hire) company policies.

McAfee remains in the top tier in reviews with respect to the protection offered, but sometimes appears to have been slightly slower than some others at getting the patches/signatures out for newly discovered threats.

Past versions of Norton could slow down the computer while a scan was running, but that has been fixed in versions since about 2006(?). "Experts" continue to tell people that Norton is causing their problems simply because it's a name people recognize and the "experts" don't actually know what the real problem is.

The main objection people here have had with Norton is that their web "front page" is somewhat vague, and registrations and renewals can (or could when the complaints were seen here) be confusing.

I've found technical support from Norton to be excellent, but my recommended method is to use their online chat, and if necessary to allow them to download their remote access utility and make fixes for me. (The utility disappears when the chat session ends.) Fixes have been universally prompt and accurate, even when I was running mixed WinXP and Vista on multiple machines.

The last time I looked seriously, any "retail package" of "Norton Internet Security" or "Norton 360," once registered on one computer, can be installed on up to a total of three machines at no additional fee. This is one of those "vague up front" features that Norton could improve on, since it may require reading a lot of "fine print" to confirm that your version includes multiple use, and sometimes the applicable fine print is found only inside the package or on the web site; but I believe it's still true.

My Norton Internet Security on 3 Vista machines momentarily "raises a flag" from the startup bar when it starts a background scan; but it produces absolutely NO DETECTABLE EFFECT on the computer, and ONLY pops up a warning if it blocks an attack that actually manages to transmit something that needs to be removed. Removal is always IMMEDIATE. With proper setup, it blocks anything serious before the attack can be launched, so the only thing ever seen is "tracking cookie removed" if you choose to look at scan results. Current versions may pop up a warning if you open a web page that appears to be infected, and the warning is usually up before the page finishes loading.

Reviews of AV products occasionally show a program that claims "better security features" than Norton (or temporarily better than "anybody else") but NONE have ever remained in that category consistently in subsequent reviews. (And the best program for consistent use may never be Number 1, because reviewers are sometimes "fadists.")

The free AVG, once rated excellent by many reviewers, has slipped significantly in recent rankings. Several other free programs with previously good to excellent ratings have slid into the AVG mode of providing a few very basic protections in a free version, but requiring you to get a paid version for protections recommended in the current computer world. For some, even the paid versions offer good protection for threats extant at the time of release, but have been poor at getting out responses to new threats promptly.

The AV programs that have consistently been in the "top tier" in reviews during the most recent year or so have been Norton, Kaspersky, McAfee, and (recently) Panda. Others that pop up with high ratings have failed to maintain their top ratings for very long. ANY AV is better than "no AV," but it's less stressful for me to have one I can trust and that I'm reasonably assured I won't have to replace every few months.

John