14 DAY TRIAL // New research conducted by antivirus test organization AV-TEST provides us with a closer look at the best security products on the market right now for Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.
It really shouldn’t be such a big surprise that the antivirus solutions from security vendors like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and McAfee topped the charts, but on the other hand, a little unexpected is that Avira and VIPRE Security products also got the maximum scores.
All these antivirus apps got 6 points for protection, 6 points for performance, and another 6 points for usability, and with an overall score of 18 points won this round of tests.
Windows Defender results
Probably the best news for Windows 10 users is that the default antivirus product bundled into the operating system offered impressive performance.
Windows Defender, which is pre-installed in Windows 10 and running all the time until a third-party security product is installed, got a final score of 17.5 points, with nearly flawless performance in terms of protection and usability. Windows Defender lost 0.5 points in performance tests, however, though it’s worth noting that it nearly topped this month’s antivirus tests.
Microsoft has continuously improved Windows Defender, and while there was a time when a third-party security product was absolutely mandatory on a Windows system, everything’s changed now. Windows Defender not only that nearly tops antivirus tests, but it’s also the preferred choice for many Windows 10 users, making third-party security products less of a must-have.
The lowest score in this round of tests was obtained by PC Pitstop software, which received 5.5 points for protection, but only 4.5 points for performance and 2.5 points for usability.
You can check out the full results in the graphs included in the article, and if you still think that third-party antivirus protection is needed on Windows 10, you should choose one of those with the highest ratings.
