All Internet utilities

The Bottom Line: Mozilla Thunderbird 2 is a fine, free, extensible e-mail client and a solid alternative to pricey Microsoft Outlook 2007 or the free Windows Live Mail.

The Bottom Line: AVG Anti-Virus 8 is solid at finding and removing viruses and spyware as well as blocking Web threats, but could be lighter on system resources and provide more technical support options.

The Bottom Line: Haute Secure 2.0 blocks malicious content on the Web and is a worthy alternative to Linkscanner and Finjan SecureBrowsing.

The Bottom Line: AVG Internet Security 8.0 provides strong protection against malicious Web sites, but its full-system scans sometimes tax system resources and produce false positives.

Specs: Complete package, 1 GHz Intel Pentium, 2 GHz Intel Pentium, 8, 1 GHz Intel Pentium, 2 GHz Intel Pentium

The Bottom Line: A near-perfect all-in-one solution for brand new PCs, Norton 360 v2 may be hard to install and run on legacy machines. However, don't count on Symantec's time-consuming and expensive technical support for help.

Specs: 3 PC in one household, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista / XP, 300 MHz, 2.0, CD-ROM, 300 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

The Bottom Line: At $20, ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware is one of the least expensive paid antispyware option we reviewed, offers more features than other similar products, and remains one of the best.

Specs: 1 user, Complete package, 7.1, Windows

The Bottom Line: Although Webroot Spy Sweeper 5.5 scored well in CNET tests, it installs the Ask.com toolbar, which seems odd for antispyware product to do.

Specs: 1 user, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Vista, 300 MHz, 5.5, 300 MHz, Windows, Internet Explorer 5.5 or later

The Bottom Line: Spyware has evolved rapidly over the last few years, but Ad-Aware 2007 seems slow and has fallen behind the times.