Security and encryption

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7 continues to outshine its competition with its ease of use combined with thorough antivirus protection.
Specs: Complete package, Intel Pentium 300 MHz or higher (Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP 4 and higher), Intel Pentium 300 MHz or higher (Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP 2 and higher), Intel Pentium 300 MHz or higher (Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 2 and higher), 7.0, CD-ROM, Intel Pentium 300 MHz or higher (Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP 4 and higher), Intel Pentium 300 MHz or higher (Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP 2 and higher), Intel Pentium 300 MHz or higher (Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 2 and higher)

Norton 360
For home and student use, we think Norton 360 represents the best value for ease of use, tools offered, and overall system performance. We recommend it over McAfee Total Protection and Microsoft Windows Live OneCare.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, 1.0, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Norton Internet Security 2008
While Symantec's protection is solid, the overall user experience within Norton Internet Security 2008 could be much, much better. Not all the features work together, and the program could use fewer system resources. We can also do without the addition of paid services within the technical support section.
Specs: 3 users, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition SP2, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, CD-ROM, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, Windows

Norton Antivirus 2008 with Antispyware
Norton AntiVirus 2008 didn't wow us this year. While the protection is solid, the user experience could be much, much better, and the product itself could be more streamlined. Also we can do without the addition of paid services in the technical support section.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition SP2, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, CD-ROM, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, Windows

Norton 360 2.0
A near-perfect all-in-one solution for brand new PCs, Norton 360 v2 may be hard to install and run on legacy machines. However, don't count on Symantec's time-consuming and expensive technical support for help.
Specs: 3 PC in one household, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista Starter, Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition SP2 or later, 300 MHz, 2.0, CD-ROM, 300 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Panda Antivirus 2008
Panda Antivirus 2008 is slower than the competition and lacks independent, third-party antivirus test results, and thus doesn't receive our recommendation.
Specs: 3 PCs, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit versions), 150 MHz, CD-ROM, 150 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008
McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008's protection keeps up with the changing threats on the Internet, but the product itself doesn't excel.
Specs: 3 users, Complete package, Windows

CA Anti-Virus Plus CA Anti-Spyware 2008
CA Anti-Virus Plus CA Anti-Spyware 2008 holds the middle ground this year, featuring faster code but lacking any compelling "must-have" features.
Specs: 3 PCs, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, 300 MHz, 800 MHz, CD-ROM, Internet connection, 300 MHz, 800 MHz, Windows

Norton Internet Security 2007
Norton Internet Security 2007 makes significant gains over last year, including cutting-edge rootkit and behavioral monitoring features found nowhere else, but the overall package could be serious overkill for the average desktop owner.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, CD-ROM, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, Windows

Kaspersky Internet Security 7
Specs: Complete package, CD-ROM

Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006
PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 has a few shortcomings, but overall it's an affordable and feature-packed security suite that reliably defends against online threats.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, 300 MHz, 233 MHz, 300 MHz, 233 MHz, Windows

Norton AntiVirus 2007
By rewriting much of the code, Symantec made Norton AntiVirus 2007 faster and lighter than its 2006 version, but a few glitches here and there keep us from granting it our Editors' Choice award.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, CD-ROM, 300 MHz or higher, 300 MHz, Windows

Trend Micro Internet Security 2008
Specs: 3 users, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2, 800 MHz, 350 MHz, CD-ROM, XGA monitor, Internet connection, 800 MHz, 350 MHz, Windows, AOL Mail, ICQ Lite, MSN/Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft Outlook 2000, Microsoft Outlook 2002, Microsoft Outlook 2003, Microsoft Outlook 2007, Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later

Microsoft Windows Live OneCare 2.0

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2007
Despite a face-lift, the redesigned McAfee VirusScan Plus continues to consume system resources and leaves its customer support lacking.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Intel Pentium, 300 MHz, Intel Pentium, 300 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Panda Internet Security 2008 - complete package
Specs: 3 PCs, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit versions), 300 MHz, CD-ROM, 300 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0

Symantec Endpoint Protection ( v. 11 ) - media
Specs: Media, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or later, 400 MHz, 11, 400 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Norton 360 Premier Edition - ( v. 2.0 ) - complete package
Specs: 3 PC in one household, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista / XP, 300 MHz, 2.0, CD-ROM, 300 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Recover My Files - complete package
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, CD-ROM, Windows

McAfee Total Protection 2008
Specs: 3 users, Complete package, Windows

Microsoft Live OneCare 2.0

Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 Pro - complete package
Specs: 3 users, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2, Microsoft Windows Vista Business (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 SP2, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2, 800 MHz, 450 MHz, CD-ROM, XGA monitor, Internet connection, 800 MHz, 450 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 6.0 SP2 or later

Norton AntiVirus 2006
Norton AntiVirus 2006 improves its detection and removal of spyware and adware but lags behind the more proactive McAfee VirusScan 2006.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or later, 300 MHz Intel Pentium, 300 MHz, 2006, CD-ROM, 300 MHz Intel Pentium, 300 MHz, Windows

Symantec Endpoint Protection Business Pack - ( v. 11 ) - complete package
Specs: 25 users, Complete package, 11, CD-ROM, Windows

Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition - ( v. 10.2 ) - media
Specs: Media, 10.2, NetWare, Windows