" I don't like suites..": IMHO HIPS must be a software indipendent from fw and av, I don't believe that an all in one program is fully projected and builded. Too mixed. Moreover, to use security softwares of different producers make life more difficult for malwares developers.
What can I say... even if I would use a Security Suite (disabling the FW/Webguard features in it, running a properly config. hardware one which I for various reasons think is better...), I still kinda make up my own as I complement it with what I think is needed.
All-in-one, but do you really need all those plugins modules? They can really slow down older systems.. The Comodo IS you got there has a lot of stuff. Have you run into those FPS yet. When I got dirty malware showing up as JPEG/BMP icons in CIS on all the systems here that uses WinRAR it's so strange that that IS would do that. Never detected the real threat. PC Tools IS is not for the power users, Spam module or plugin won't be use by most and there is a bug in there too. It does stop stuff but not the real bad ones. Most clients I know use Norton 360 and Mcafee suites sure they have the backing but the suites hog the system. Avira IS I see you didn't test that one. It's firewall isn't like PC Tools Firewall Plus to me that Avira is weak there in IS.
As others have posted, security suites are fine for newbies... or folks that can't be bothered with research... Unfortunately, I have found that security suites tend to specialize in one area more than others and thus if you want the best of everything, you are going to want to pick and choose what is on your system and suites tend to leave drivers strewn all over the place, thus making it even more difficult to firm up a small area where you found the security lacking... Regards - -Bob
Prior suites were crap.. Today some are better than others.. Key is protection and low on system resources, less Fps and crashes. How well can they handle large invasion of attacks from the fake crap online that we're all trying to defend against. On your main network everything should be able handshake, from media servers, print servers, file servers, web servers without getting that dragged message saying access denied!
I prefer to make my own custom secutity suite by selecting the best of breed that work together. PGP Online Armor NOD32 Sandboxie SpywareBlaster Trojan Remover