Program comparison

As a newcomer to this group, Ive read the last 500 posts or so, and I've
tried to respect other users here by being specific in the query and
background.....

I am a fairly intensive winXP pro user. I use opera where possible, IE6 at
times, MS Office, I'm on IRC and use Outlook 2k SP-3 for multiple pop3 email
accounts... I'm online 24/7 and go days between reboots... I know the M$
programs are ridden with holes, and Ive tried to move away... but I know my
limits. Im no "techie", though I'm pretty competent as non-tech amateurs
go. I havent managed to get eudora or bat or others to handle my email as
Id like... or to get some web pages to work in opera. So Im stuck with M$
for certain programs for the time being. This is far from ideal but its not
the heart of the query, just for now accept thats how it is. I am pretty
security aware - I scan downloads before using them, dont open unexpected
unidentified attachments, dont accept unknown links or DCCs, run zone alarm
pro 4.5 and have it correctly configured, as well as spybot and
spywareblaster... I'm gonna try to learn TDS-3 and if I cant, I'll use
trojan-hunter.... all the usual good things.

My concern is that I just cant pick which AV product to run. I understand
the issues, I've narrowed it down, I dont feel competent to make a final
selection or pinpoint what is fact from fiction. And so Im trying here, to
see if anyone else can help.

The cost doesnt matter. I'd prefer to pay for a paid version if they're
better in some relevant way, either detection, ease of use, or whatever.

I've discounted both packages I've tried personally to date:
AVG (always had problems with it failing to integrate as it should with
Outlook 2000 SP-3, and also due to mixed reports of its quality to suggest
its unlikely to be in the top 3)
Norton AV (bad experience in the past, question over its abilities compared
to some others, a sense that symantec produce "bloat", etc)

I guess I'm therefore looking at:
F-secure, Kaspersky, NOD, or Avast

Every decent report seems to point to at least one of these as being pretty
damn good. IE, if I was to pick the best for my needs, it would probably be
one of those.

As best I can gather:

NOD is fast, low resource, damn capable, but often gets low marks in reviews
because it ignores much malware that others such as KAV pick up, and is
finely tuned to avoid false negatives others highlight. I dont know to what
extent this is a real phenomena, and to what extend NOD is actually picking
up positives... every one of these consistently gets 100%'s in the ITW
tests...

KAV seems to be the most capable... but resource hungry

F-Secure seems well liked, and uses multiple engines (but I am not clear
which ones)

Avast gets good reviews but I dont know much more than that

My criteria is simple:

I am looking for a scanner that will identify malware in web pages I browse,
emails I preview or open in outlook, attachments sent to me, downloads I
obtain off websites, files that mysteriously end up on my HD, and the like.
I wont be opening these programs deliberately until scanned, but I am
dependent on the scanner since most of them I cant be 100% sure will be from
sterile sources. Even a software patch sent to me by a colleague may have
been infected somehow - Ive had that before. A scanner suitable for the
user whose attitude is between "cautious" and "slightly over cautious", who
has been targetted and might be again, who is clean and wants to stay clean
despite having to use M$ software and having relatives who visit less than
safe websites with less than safe downloads on them.

So my aim here is twofold:

The most potent, and competent scanner, the one that is most likely to pick
up more than others, highlight questionable files faster, look in places
others dont, and keep me safest. And whose track record suggests they will
stay that way most likely.

And, if this happens to be a slow, resource hungry bastard, then I'd like a
second recommendation, for one thats relatively fast, but still does pretty
near the same quality of work, and I'll use the 1st recommendation for "on
demand" scanning only, or when I'm suspicious, and to perform a weekly scan.



(Oh yeah - the system is a P4 2.8 hyper, on a fast asus motherboard, so it
can probably handle a heavyweight scanner if thats the one people think
best)


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