Oldest AV myth/question answered

20 min crash curse ? I presume you mean course.

It shouldn't take much time to learn the basics about attack vectors/threat gates. We can split that in two: the technical part, and the social engineering part. With the right source of information, those two shouldn't take much time. The QUALITY of information is obviously very important.
No huge amount of time is required. How much time does it take to learn how to deal with AVs ? I 've used McAfee, and that's a steep learning curve.
The social engineering part is actually relatively easy. It's based on life experience.

'amateurs' ? that's not very respectful.

I'm not an IT professional, far from it, and I virtually never get infected.

HIPS ? I agree that a pure HIPS is not a good idea. Covering attack vectors and 'threat gates' is a huge step in the right direction.

One thing I agree on, downloaded files need to be examined. Virustotal is very helpful. True, sort of an AV, but different.

AVs provide a false sense of security.

Btw, when do we get some independant tests of VIPRE (like av-comparatives) ?

 

I don't think so. At least not for those who blindly download and run every single file that they find on the Web.