(Note: BitDefender 9 Standard is no longer available; see pricing and other information for BitDefender Antivirus Plus 10.)

BitDefender 9 Standard is inexpensive, easy to use, and effective at detecting malware threats; as a result, it earned PC World's Best Buy distinction in "The New Virus Fighters" roundup of ten antivirus products.

Top-ranked in our performance tests, BitDefender 9 achieved the best scores in our heuristics tests--detecting 43 percent of worms and 57 percent of backdoor programs using one-month-old virus data and 18 percent of worms and 42 percent of backdoors using two-month-old virus data. It also earned top-notch scores in our zoo tests, catching more than 93 percent of the backdoors, bots, and Trojan horses. However, BitDefender's scan-speed results ranked second to last, averaging just over 9 minutes and 16 seconds to scan the files on our test PC.

At first glance, the BitDefender interface appears lacking. The General information tab gives you only of basic information about your last system scan and software update. The real information lies in the Antivirus and Update tabs, which you access on the left side of the screen. There you'll find deeper options for specifying the way you want the program to look on screen, the way it sends you virus data, and how it scans files.

BitDefender 9 earns our Best Buy distinction due to its easy navigation, superior performance, and low price.

Tony Bradley