Tygr

I really don't think people should support anti-virus software vendors. For all we know they are the ones creating viruses in the first place . Also one doesn't need an AV software as long as s/he isn't a troll and is carefull enough :/. Also microsoft should stop complicating the way security is handled in Windows and make them simple. Or it's gonna break. They can't outsmart all the hackers/virus coders out there.

Okay. Sorry for blatantly posting that. That was just my opinion. But chances are that your browser will tell you that that particular site has been marked as malicious and require you to click on a "continue" or "go back" buttonbefore actually entering that site. I know you can never be sure but the probability of getting hit is really low even without an AV(you should use a firewall though). Again that's just my Opinion. I personally am not a great wwindows fan and I don't use windows that much. But I haven't had a virus on my windows pc for a long time now and I didn't use an AV untill very recently. I did install MSE after it came out though...

EDIT: sorry I hadn't fully understood your article at the time of posting. But I'm wondering if any of the Current AV products has protection against this type of threat(?). Very interesting article. Thank you for sharing it.

Okay. How about well knowledged users don't need AV's?
Yes. I don't plug usb drives into my windows box. doing so makes me feel like I'm leaving my pc's security to them. But I do use the internet, download/seed torrents, and mess around. A LOT. I only have a 3rd-party firewall installed. And, yes, my pc has been infected, but generally I can do a good enough job at detecting them, and doing a clean install if necessary, without sacrificing the performance of my pc. I know when my pc starts behaving strangely, I have a firewall installed, I periodically (usually 3-4 months) check my pc for viruses using 1 of the online checkers, and I periodically back-up my hard drive, also any os probably needs a reinstall after a year(usually in even less time, because of the performance drop).
I know I should've mentioned but, I WAS NOT talking about the general users who doesn't have general coding abilities. Those peoples who doesn't have the basic idea of how a program or an OS works, actually deserve to get their computers broke. A computer is probably like a modern genie to those type of people.