Free AVs Compared, 2016

The Best Free Antivirus Protection of 2016
By Neil J. Rubenking November 11, 2016

"We've tested 14 free AV services to help you find the right one to protect your PC."
www.pcmag.com/.../0,2817,2388652,00.asp

Comments:

I always take articles like this with a large grain of salt. There is no "best" AV protection, free or paid, out there.

I post mainly because this recent article does describe the features of the various free AVs extant, with links to the individual reviews. As always, the reviews might be a tad out of date. Still, for those wondering about free AVs and their features, this is not a bad place to start.

That said, I note that the "Editors' Choice" award includes Avast Free and Panda Free, both of which come well recommended hereabouts. They give however short shrift to Windows Defender for Win 10 (AKA MSE for Win 7) which I think is not warranted. I use WD.

Finally, the best argument they push for buying a paid AV is "If you do have a little cash in your budget for security, the best paid antivirus products do tend to offer more and better protection." I don't think that a tendancy is worth shelling out bucks on an annual basis, and I have 10 years worth of experience using various free AVs without infection/regret to back up my opinion.

As always, YMMV.