Sorry, but I respectfully disagree with item #3 (Best Anti-Spyware). Only yesterday, I ran a thorough scan with the Microsoft program. It showed no spyware. Then I ran Spybot Search & Destroy and it found one item, the irritating "Instant Access" spyware. Then, I ran Ad-Aware SE 1.05, and it found 6 items missed by the other two programs! All were updated just prior to using them. There is no single anti-spyware that is effective, but a combination is required.
I tend to agree with you. I bought Giant prior to MS buying them and it works fine as far as it goes.
Spybot I had used prior and still use today in conjunction with Giant. Spybot is no longer finding newer versions than what I have installed. There has to be updates, so that has me little concerned.
Ad-Aware I used early on, but if didin't seem to find much more than Spybot. Based on your word, another look might be in order.
I find RegCleaner to be useful as well, but it takes some decision on the users part to discern what to keep and what to dump.
HiJack This! is also useful for toolbar and start page hijackers.
One size DEFINITELY does not fit all...
The best defense is to use multiple spyware programs.
Every one will miss something. I have found Microsoft's to be better than Spybot, but it seems like every program will miss something.
That said, with Mozilla, I only have a tiny amount of spyware that gets through. And 99 percent of it is actually adware...which I really don't care about that much, but of course I will delete it when found. :)
Thanks for the post!
As for ant-spy/mal/scumware...best results come from a combination of them and making sure users (teenagers, wife) are careful about the sites they visit. If you've ever been hijacked, you know it pays to be vigilent.
I use Webroot Spysweeper for cleaning out spyware.