To my mind, avast has the most user-friendly interface out of all free antivirus programs I know of, and its updates come absolutely silent. Some PC users insist that it has a poor detection rate, but AV comparatives lists avast! over Norton, so there must be a sound reason behind that.
Since version 4.8 avast! claims to have anti-spyware protection included as well. I personally know a home user who switched from ESET (paid) to avast! (free), and not because NOD’s subscription expired.

I use Avira’s Antivir, it’s free for personal use, and it got top marks in the recent c’t test (the leading IT magazine in Germany).

Yeah, AVG seems to be the clear winner. :)

Well, as is usual with the non-game computer posts, it’s all Geek to me, but I guess I can feel comfortable having AVG with the amount of props it has gotten here. Thanks, all!

Well, on Linux I use ClamAV… if I have it installed. It isn’t installed on my desktop right now. I usually install AVG or Avast on other machines though.

And about performance, I too hate programs that sit in the memory needlessly. All I keep running are Yakuake (always available terminal), Katapult (launcher), OpenOffice.org preloader (I use it a good amount), and KGet (I download files enough that it seems worth it. Thanks Flashgot!).

@Zack – I used BitDefender on my Linux box. On day I decided to download bunch of malware from the spam MySpace profiles and see if I can figure out what kind of crap they are pedling. ClamAV found nothing. So I grabbed BitDefender and it detected 2 trojans in the executable.

When I uploaded it to some of those “scan this file with multiple AV programs” services and no one found more infections than BitDefender. I will need to check out their free endition.

@jambarama – hmm, good point. I think this is actually what is running on our Windows servers. I don’t see huge performance penalty, but then again these things are pretty powerful so who knows.

@Miloš – heh.. It’s funny how we are trying to save money on security. In fact, most managers out there realize that you can’t really save that much money on security products. AV, Anti Spyware, firewalls and etc is the stuff that is easiest to get approved in most places. You just say “we need it, this is the best stuff out there, and I believe we should be using the best tools to protect our business, bla bla bla whatever” :P

Lowest bid my friend…it came with anti-spam module as well…like I said not what I would have chosen from technical perspective, but who knows how things look on top when you have to consider other factors as well.

I didn’t see any mention of Symantec Corporate. That’s been my AV of choice for sometime now. It doesn’t seem to cripple performance like the consumer grade garbage Norton sells.

I run as a limited user on my XP desktop, the few programs that need admin privileges can be launched from an admin console I keep lying around. I have AV updates scheduled, and I occasionally check the windows updates that automatically download (but don’t automatically install).

Virtually nothing starts up automatically (except my virtual desktop manager and slickrun). The machine boots in about a minutes (I’ve timed it) but I rarely reboot. The XP install has been on the machine for 2+ years now, no need for a reformat yet, its still virus free and responsive.

All I have to say is, I used to use AVG free on all my clients machines that had the mcafee or nis crap on it. But recently BitDefender started offering a FREE version of their antivirus suite. All I could say was SA-WEET! I like it much better than AVG. The updates and scan’s go on in the background (actually in a small window in the bottom right corner) instead of popping up all the time being annoying and BIG! I would suggest everyone that runs AVG Free to give Bit Defender free a try. It runs just as fast, not a system hog, and I think it is better at catching nasty stuff.

http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en–BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.ht ml

I had something vaguely relevant to say about a non-game computer topic!
Wheee!