Antivirus software

[Ishmael]

My subscription to Norton is running out soon, and rather than blindly renewing it I was wondering if anybody had alternate recommendations? I've had Malware Bytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org/) suggested to me by a friend - is that any good? I don't tend to perform any high-risk activities (e.g. downloading from torrents), so I just need something functional and effective.

[Lemur]

Malwarebytes is fantastic, and every nerd should keep a copy installed. However, for day-to-day browser protection, I would recommend MSE (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials). Unobtrusive and very effective. And most importantly, free.