I have been using the free security tools from Comodo for some time and can not recommend them enough (http://www.comodo.com/products/comodo-products.php).
At various time have used other suites and found many of the commercial products to be blotted and buggy. I gave up on Symantec (which I paid for!) after having to reinstall it yet again. It seemed that every time it had a problem (which was often) the only solution was to fully remove all Symantec products and completely reinstall. This process would take hours as the uninstallers did not remove everything. Other products either used enormous amounts of system resources and/or did not block malware.
While there are a lot more options in the Comodo Firewall than the standard Windows Firewall, there is nothing that the average geek would not understand. The UI is easy to use and the logs clearly show what events have occurred.
The Antivirus just works, and when combined with the Firewall is an efficient solution for machines with limited resources – I use this combination on my Lenovo Netbook.
I have recently started using TrustConnect (http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/wifi-security.php) their Wireless Security solution on my portable devices. This allows me to use untrusted Wi-Fi connections (such as free wireless hot spots) without worrying about my personal data.
This works by using a VPN connection to a Comodo proxy server. As all communication between my laptop and the proxy is encrypted anyone tapping the connection would be unable to read it. It is very easy to use. Just enter your userid and password, and select a proxy server. From then on all internet traffic is routed via the VPN connection.
Additional advantages are that being encrypted it bypasses Internet Filters (like the one Conroy keeps banging on about https://paulshipley.id.au/index.php/blog/internet-filter) and since the Comodo proxies are geographically dispersed you can appear to be a ‘local’ user to remote web sites.
Great stuff – five propeller hats.