F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006 is a solid product providing superior detection and cleanup of security threats; however, its user interface falls short is some important respects.

F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006 came in fourth overall among the ten products tested for "The New Virus Fighters"--detecting 98 percent of backdoor programs, 99 percent of bots, and 96 percent of Trojan horses. It also ranked third in our heuristics tests using one-month-old virus data--catching 35 percent of worms and 55 percent of backdoors.

While performance was superior, the interface is only basic. Clicking on the Virus & Spy Protection button on the left side of the main window takes you to an expandable file tree of configuration and customization options, though they're less plentiful than those of some of the other products and offer little guidance if you're confused about what to choose.

F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006 does provide comprehensive and frequent security news alerts via text pop-ups in the System Tray. Alerts accumulate in reverse chronological order in the software's Security News screen, which also tells users whether or not they are protected against each item.

Upshot: F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006 offers excellent performance and security news alerts, though the interface could be more helpful.

-- Tony Bradley