Best free antivirus software in 2009

Wondering what the best free antivirus software is? There’s a myriad of questions most people have when trying to figure out the best antivirus software, especially ones that are free.  While some maintain that no free antivirus software works as well as the robust (and expensive) alternatives, there are several great options for both Mac and PC that perform as well or better then their pricey brethren.

With the ever-growing number of spyware, malware, trojans, viruses and things that haven’t even been discovered yet, it’s almost impossible to stay fully secure these days.  Still, antivirus plays an important role in your protection.  Let’s take a look at what to look for when comparing free antivirus software.

1. Whether or not the software is simply a “scanning tool,” which means it will scan your system at pre-determined intervals to check for viruses.  This differs from “real-time” protection, in which you’re protected as you’re doing things like surfing the web and downloading music, etc.  For the best protection, real-time scanning is the way to go.
2. The method and frequency in which the software updates its database of potential viruses, malicious software, etc.  In most cases, this is referred to as a “definitions list.”  The more frequent this list is updated, the better chance a new virus can be caught before it harms your system.
3. The various layers of protection.  While some titles may be perfect at catching basic viruses, it may not even look for phishing schemes, adware, etc.  Also, many free versions are severely limited and only provide basic functionality.  You want protection again things like malware, adware, spyware, viruses, trojans, hacker attempts, phishing and more.  The more layers the better, and while they’re far and few between, there are several good free antivirus titles that take care of all of these threats.
4. The level of user-support.  While not the most important thing on the list, it always helps to have somewhere to turn in case a question or problem arises.  A lot of free antivirus software, while not offering full support, still offer user forums for FAQs and general community support.  A lot of the time, the difference between a title being free or not depends on its level of support.  If you can’t live without full support, you better stick with paid software.

Things like your overall Web habits play a huge role in your vulnerability to viruses as well- for example, one who downloads music constantly from networks like LimeWire stand a much greater chance than those who just check email and the weather everyday.   Still, every normal home user should have some form of a security layer in place on their computers at all time.  Antivirus software is the foundation for that security layer, but which ones are the best?  Let’s take a look at the best free antivirus software in terms of feature-set, protection capabilities, support and the speed in which it will recognize and protect you in the future.

The Comodo Security Suite. This is a robust offering that includes both feature-packed antivirus software and a firewall combination to protect against all types of attacks including hacker activities.  There’s a paid version, but the free version includes all the same features, just without on-going support.  Another key aspect of Comodo is that it’s very easy on your computer’s resources which is a big problem with most antivirus software, especially firewalls.  Being light on resources makes it perfect for those with older computers or limited memory.  Comodo remains popular because it’s one of the few completely free security “suites” available which includes both anti-virus and anti-spyware together with its firewall.  While the antivirus may not be as powerful as others, the suite is worth it for the firewall alone.  Comodo is currently only available for PCs.

Avast! Home Edition. This is another old-time favorite for many as it’s been around and under development for quite a while.  For free antivirus, Avast is the least limited of them all, meaning it includes everything from anti-rootkit to anti-spyware to malware protection and beyond.  It’s also one of the few that includes full “real-time” protection, meaning it protects you while you’re surfing the web, opening and reading emails, IMing, using P2P sharing, and beyond.  Like Comodo, it’s very easy on resources, and is unique in that it still includes full support for even older Windows platforms.  While there are versions for both Mac and PC available, the PC version is the only one available at no cost.

AVG Free Edition. This is the most widely used free antivirus software available, and for good reason.  The two main aspects that make AVG one of the best free titles out there is the fact that it updates it’s definitions list (list of possible viruses, etc.) very frequently, and like Avast, provides real-time protection.  Being so effective also has its drawbacks in terms of resource hogging at times, but well worth it for its high level of security.  AVG has little support beyond a users-forum, and its free version includes advertising, but its detection rate is nearly unmatched by any other title.  At the time of this writing, AVG is only available for PCs, but a Mac version is in the works and should be available soon.

ClamXav.  If you’re using a Mac, while much less susceptible to viruses than PCs, you shouldn’t overlook it.  The market for free antivirus software is somewhat limited, but good software still exists.  The problem with Mac, and especially Mac OS X, is that many users get complacent since viruses are so far and few between.  Still, transferring files that could have originated on a PC could bring you a virus or malicious software inadvertently.  Case in point, you should still think about adding antivirus software to your Mac.  ClamXav is completely free and based on the popular ClamAV open source antivirus engine as its backend.  It doesn’t provide real-time protection, but will scan your Mac at chosen intervals to make sure everything is in order.

While there remains several good alternatives to paying for antivirus software, the software mentioned above are the most popular, the most feature-packed, the most stable, and provide the best overall protection on as many layers as possible.  It’s a large misconception that no free antivirus software can compare with the paid versions, when in reality, the titles mentioned above have been proven to perform as good or better than their expensive and bulky alternatives.

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