XP support extended?

[Nebogipfel]

........keeping a machine clean has far more to do with how you use your computer, and relatively little to do with what protection software you use. I'm actually not convinced that I need any protection at all, and that's why I'm happy with MSE.......

I think we are going to have to disagree on this one Mark. I agree that it is wise to practice safe computing but the fact remains that the low-life hackers and virus creators are often very talented and the AV industry are always playing catch-up. Even the best system administrators fail to prevent some of the infections out there which means that the clean? legit' sites you visit may be infected.

To use your motoring analogy, however safely and defensively you drive there is always the possibility that someone else's mistake will involve you.

You pays your money as the saying goes, but I can't see the point in trusting to MSE/luck rather than using one of the excellent free AV products.

I have not noticed any particular resource problems when using Avast on my Win 7 machine and compared to the likes of McAfee and Symantec it's greased lightning. It's free, the interface is intuitive and updates are very frequent and it consistently scores well in AV tests, what more could you ask for the average computer user?