By Keith Norcross

Choosing an antivirus solution is not the most exciting task, but picking the right one can prevent a big headache down the line. Windows 10 Defender is an antivirus service that is built into Windows 10. Since its release, Defender’s free service has consistently shaken up the market as a substantial competitor to its paid rivals. This article will compare and contrast the differences between the market’s highest-rated antivirus solutions and Defender; it will not cover free versions of paid services.

Let’s take a look at the pros of Windows 10 Defender. For starters, it’s free, but unlike other free solutions it has real-time scanning. This means that it is stopping attacks as they happen to your system, or at the very least doing the best it can. Another great feature of Defender is that it is built into the operating system. You don’t need to worry about being vulnerable when you run your computer for the first time, as there is an immediate line of defense. Here is a small list of a few more great features of Defender: There are no ads, it turns itself off when another antivirus solution is installed, and it re-enables itself when another solution is removed.

If we look at some of the most popular paid services on the market, we see services like Kaspersky, Avast, and Webroot. There are many more, but these are just at the top of the list. Some pros are that they offer real-time scanning and score in the top five for antivirus software in lists from several independent reviewers. Another perk is that they include bonus features, like backup and recovery tools that can definitely make life easier when things go wrong for the everyday user.

Now that it’s time to put everyone in their place, our first few swings will be taken at Defender. It ranks above the middle of the road and just below the top paid services. It’s not the best, but it is far from the worst. Defender is also rather new to the game and has yet to prove itself. There is also Windows’s turbulent past with viruses. (“Shouldn’t they make products that aren’t vulnerable to attacks?”)

Next up are the paid antivirus services. The first pitfall to a paid service is that you have to pay for it! Not only do you have to pay for it, but you have to keep paying. The paid services will also give you a lot of false positives, where you will get notifications of infection over trivial pieces of software. These can be quite annoying and frustrating, especially when there is nothing harming your computer.

One more blow to all antivirus solutions, including Defender, is that they are incomplete. It is recommended that users also find an anti-malware solution to run alongside their antivirus. If you are looking for a good anti-malware solution, I would recommend Malwarebytes. The paid version gets you similar features like real time scanning and bonus features, but manually scanning for free is fairly easy, too.

The dust has settled a little bit, and it is time to pick the solution that best fits your needs. I can’t decide for you, but now you should have the tools needed to make an informed decision. Windows 10 Defender is great if you are on a budget, can’t make up your mind, or are knowledgeable and cautious with your online behavior. If you don’t mind paying anywhere from $20 per year for a lower-end service, or all the way up to $60 per year for top-of-the-line protection, then a paid service might be right for you. Both have their pitfalls, but Windows 10 Defender is rapidly improving, and this only puts the pressure on for paid services like Kaspersky or Avast.

Keith Norcross is currently enrolled as an information-technology student at SMCC.