Antivirus software is the most critical software utility after the operating-system itself, choosing the right one from the huge verity of offerings out there is a critical decision which can be life-saver in future for data on your computer.

There is a huge number of antivirus programs on offer to choose from, there are free ones and the paid ones. Some are real many are fake, some will offer good protection while some will overtask your computer causing it to run slower or even fill your screen with popups. Here are some tips which you can use to get the best antivirus software at the right price, from the right place.

When it comes to free antivirus avast! comes top amongst the list of popular free anti-malware security software's, apart from there most popular free avast! antivirus product the company also offers paid upgrades to "PRO" and "Internet Security" versions with added features like Sandbox, SafeZone, Command-Line Scanner, Silent Firewall and Antispam.

The Avast! Internet Security solution comes equipped with additional tools like antispam filter and a built-in firewall for complete protection to handle today's computer security threats online. avast Internet security provides continuous protection from its layers of antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit protection, firewall and antispam modules.

avast Internet Security 6 costs $49.99/year regularly but everyone can now grab a 100% genuine license to the product for free by simply submitting their email address as instructed after the jump.

AVG is a well-known company providing one of the world's most used free anti-virus software - "AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition", the great news is the company is offering their fully-featured commercial computer security suite "AVG Internet Security 2011" absolutely free of cost for a period of one year under a limited period promotion.

A favorite of free anti-virus users avast! antivirus is all set to leap into next major version with beta versions of upcoming avast! antivirus 5 being made available for downloads in couple of weeks, the all new avast! version 5 will come in three flavors - Free, Professional and Security Center Edition, the free version will retain all the functionality as existing Home Edition with new extras, the paid professional version will now include a new virtualization module and the Security suite edition adds an Firewall coupled with an anti-spam module to offer complete security.

Apart from the completely redesigned easier to use interface the new version incorporates various performance optimizations which reduces boot-up and scanning time considerably with the new engine detecting more viruses consuming less resources.