Sorry – no poll here but I am writing this story in response to a poll I saw done by Rich (great name by the way) over at the Windows Guides website.
Last Saturday he posed the question: Which Antivirus Software Do You Use on Your Personal Windows Computers?
The results show that by more than double the number of votes to the second place program that Microsoft Security Essentials was the most used. That closest program to MSE was Avast! Free Antivirus.
Both of those programs are very good choices for protection as well as many of the ones listed in the poll. I will be honest with you, this will come as no surprise for readers of this site or those who listen to the Observed Tech PODCAST, I am a MSE fan and am glad to see it do well in this poll.
Like Rich, I was also pleased to see very few people reported that they were not using any antivirus software. That is encouraging. Would I recommend not running any type of antivirus on your system? Of course not. I think it is better to have it there for those times you may be distracted and click something you might not have intended to.
For me this backup is a good thing – just as important as backing up your personal data.
With so many good free options there is not really any reason to not have antivirus software installed on your system.
