How antivirus software affects system performance
CNET has done a study of the effect of various antivirus software programs on how fast a system can carry out certain common tasks. As is well known, antivirus programs slow down a computer and it is interesting to look at the CNET numbers. The article concludes:
For the first time in nearly two years, we have an Editors’ Choice winner for antivirus protection. Of the products we’ve tested and reviewed thus far, we think Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 offers the best value and performance. Norton AntiVirus 2007 improved some over last year, but McAfee VirusScan Plus 2007, despite adding a firewall, failed to move up. New this year is Eset NOD32, an excellent application, but one that’s best suited for more advanced users