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1. 
   Review - Opera for Windows

   10.10 Build 1778 Beta (Sep 13, 2009)

   I've never been fan of the Opera browser. The application itself was excellent, light and fairly easy to use. My biggest problem was the rendering didn't work for websites that I used. That was a hugggge glaring flaw and I never bothered to use the application.
   
   Now we're at Opera 10, and after a reading a few positive reviews on the internet saying "Hey this is actually pretty good stuff" I gave it another go. Now historically i've always tried Opera on every major release to see if rendering has improved, and Opera 10 is the first release where they have it nearly perfect.
   
   Opera 10 is successful in not only being a great application but being a sturdy and dependable browsing experience. All my websites work perfectly on it, the built in email application is fantastic. The GUI is snappy and well thought out. When you add in extras like closed tab restore, a built in torrent client...it becomes a powerhouse of an application.
   
   5 Stars, excellent piece of software. For those who have written Opera off as I did, do yourself a favor and give it another shot.

2. 
   Review - Spybot - Search & Destroy

   1.6.2.46 (Feb 12, 2009)

   I think Spybot has recieved a high rating from a lot of users here simply because of their nostalgia for what the product USED to be like. Simply put, this software doesn't detect malware very well, it has an outdated GUI and nothing has been done to advance it forward.
   
   It's solid, stable and the immunization is nice, but Spywareblaster specifies in immunization and does it better. Teatimer is nice, but there are many HIPs programs, behavior analysis programs that cover a larger basis.
   
   Each part of Spybot is done better for free by another company, and if you step back, there's really no reason to have the program taking up space on your machine.

3. 
   Review - Agnitum Outpost Security Suite Pro (32-bit)

   2009 (6.5.2509.366.0663) (Jan 9, 2009)

   This firewall runs along Norton Antivirus 2009 for me, and I just recently purchased the lifetime license of Outpost so i'm going to have it for a long time.
   
   I'm currently running it with the antispyware not installed, and the content filtering not installed. I have an advanced firewall without the extra features. Normally I would recommend you install the extra features because they are fantastic, but since i'm running Norton, there simply wasn't a need.
   
   However in my tests of Outpost, it didn't stealth my ports even in stealth mode (No big deal), It was however successful in detecting every leaktest sample I threw at it. The antispyware component did a wonderful job of cleaning up my infected virtual machine. In fact it was one of the few cleaners to do a thorough job without crashing.
   
   Conclusion: It works as advertised. I wont even dock it for not stealthing some ports. Only paranoid people get worked up over port stealthing. Firewall works great, you can block advertisements, block malicous websites and keep your PC's traffic under your watchful eye. It's Antispyware will shield from the creepy nasties and it does it well.
   
   Just make sure you pair it with an Antivirus program like AVG, Avast or Antivir.

4. 
   Review - PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition

   5.0.1.1 (Jan 9, 2009)

   I've always loved how PC Tools gave away security tools for free when it didn't have to. Of course they promote their other products in the free versions, but they provide so many types of free products you can practically build your own suite. Between PC Tools Antivirus FREE, Spyware Doctor STARTER EDITION, PC Tools Firewall FREE and Threatfire FREE edition...you have all your bases covered on one company alone.
   
   As you should...
   
   PC Tools Antivirus didn't catch too many trojan samples I threw at it, and it seems to do only as advertised which is catch viruses. This means you can't expect PC Tools Antivirus to catch the latest form of mutant malware like Vundo, you would have to leave that to Spyware Doctor or some other form of Malware fighting tool.
   
   The poor detection is really the only ouch for me. Since I enjoy having my computer run as lightly as possible, I can only stand to have one program on my PC for malware cleaning and I expect the program to do both. Paid programs like Norton, McAfee do this, and free programs like AVG and Avast all incorporate rootkit, adware and spyware detection to their engines.
   
   With free programs being so advanced, why use PC Tools Antivirus? I'll leave the answer up to you, but I can't get it any less than 3 Stars for being free and easy to use. Minus 2 stars for the lacky of extensive features to keep the user safe.
   
   If you download this, please pair it up with Spyware Doctor Starter Edition.
   
   http://www.download.com/...00-8022_4-10704508.html

5. 
   Review - AVG Anti-Virus Free

   8.0.176a1400 (Dec 4, 2008)

   burfadel, while I agree that Avast is also a great choice for a free antivirus, I would argue that Avast actually feels just as heavy as AVG. And i'll even give AVG credit for sprucing up it's interface
   
   Obviously there are some excellent paid choices like Nod32 and Kaspersky that may be more aggressive with malicious software. But if you're just browsin' the web and playing games and not using your computer for heavy work or banking then you might just be alright with AVG, Avast or Antivir. Anybody who depends fully on the well being of their PC should consider some top ranking paid solutions.

6. Comment - Invitation to final beta test of Ad-Aware 2009 edition

   8.0.176a1400 (Dec 21, 2008 - 4:18 PM)

   I'm going to agree, Ad-Aware isn't needed anymore. Most people have moved onto Malwarebytes Antimalware, and SuperAntispyware if they want to eliminate pests.
   
   Also free programs like Avast, AVG and Antivir have those features built in, including a realtime shield.
   
   Ahhh, brings back the good ol' days when just finding a free product that had a 'shield' was hard as hell. Now you can find them everywhere.

7. Comment - Microsoft: The IE threat is real, and so is the fix

   8.0.176a1400 (Dec 17, 2008 - 2:37 PM)

   I like what Microsoft is doing with IE since Version 6, and even though we get these scary bugs every once in awhile, it's not enough to make me stop using it.

8. Comment - Microsoft to replace Live OneCare with 'no-cost' anti-malware

   8.0.176a1400 (Nov 19, 2008 - 11:19 AM)

   I'm not so much upset that Microsoft is giving away free stuff. If I want free stuff, I can get Avira Antivir with superb detection rates without Microsoft's offering. I'm upset they are dumbing it down and stripping away the features I frequently use, like integration with family and auto tuneups and backups. They're just gonna have Defender and an AV sitting there...that's not helpful to me personally.

9. Comment - Microsoft to replace Live OneCare with 'no-cost' anti-malware

   8.0.176a1400 (Nov 19, 2008 - 1:07 AM)

   I would argue the case for Microsoft Onecare, and i'm a little upset to see them dump the product.
   
   I picked it up last year and installed it on my Mom's PC and my Sister's PC with my PC as the hub. I've been able to track virus alerts, monthly alerts and turn on their firewall if it's turned off. I set up automatic tuneups for their PC's so they are defragmented and cleaned every two weeks. I used logmein to go into their PC's if anything was wrong, and it was the perfect setup even though we were miles apart.
   
   To respond to Sumone, customizability isn't something Microsoft was aiming for. Onecare was designed with simplicity in mind. One can make a good argument that Onecare's detection rates wasn't superb. However it does not matter what Antivirus product you have, expect it to miss some if you're a dangerous surfer. The firewall worked fine, just because it doesn't pester you doesn't mean it's terrible. I also never had any prompts in the latest version of Onecare.
   
   I thought it was a great piece of software to take care of a family's PCs, and I was glad that it wasn't Norton. Looks like I need to look into Norton 360 for next year.

10. Comment - Is Live Search Cashback really paying off for Microsoft?

    8.0.176a1400 (Nov 15, 2008 - 10:01 AM)

    Agreed. Google at the moment has a far superior search engine. Top it off, I think Google is out pacing Microsoft rather than Microsoft closing in. Quite the opposite.