THE BEST ANTIVIRUS FOR WINDOWS 7 REVEALED BY AV-TEST.

Choosing a powerful security software solution for your computer has always been a difficult thing to do, especially because there are so many products out there that promise to keep you away from malware and exploits.

But thanks to the security experts at AV-TEST, it's now a little bit easier to pick a strong security solution for Windows 7 home and corporate users.

A new round of tests performed by the institute on Windows 7 32-bit determined the best apps in three different sections, namely protection, performance, and usability.

As far as consumers are concerned, there's no surprise here because Bitdefender and Kaspersky got the best scores, as always. They both received an 18 out of 18 possible points, while Avira, ZoneAlarm and Symantec's Norton arrived closely with 17.5 points.

Specifically, Bitdefender and Kaspersky both received 6 points for protection, performance, and usability, whereas Avira lost only 0.5 point in performance tests.

Microsoft Security Essentials again the worst performer

If you're wondering which is the worst performer, again, no big surprise here. Microsoft Security Essentials received only 11.5 points, whereas ThreatTrack Vipre, which is actually available at a price, got only 10 points. Security Essentials received only 0.5 points for protection, 5 points for performance, and 6 points for usability.

The popular Avast free security software suite received a total of 16 points, scoring 5 for protection and performance and 6 for usability. AVG, another popular security solution that's available for users at absolutely no cost, received 14.5 points, with 4.5 awarded for protection, 4 for performance, and 6 for usability.

For corporate users, Bitdefender, F-Secure, and Kaspersky are again the best options, while Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection got the lowest score and ranked last.

Once again, Bitdefender and Kaspersky received 6 points for each test, whereas F-Secure received 5.5 points for usability. Microsoft scored 0 for protection, 5 for performance, and 6 for usability.