Visibly, not much has changed here since the last edition, Panda Internet Security 2006. There have, however, been a few improvements that can't be seen but can be experienced.

It's still very easy to set up, with a simple procedure that detected alternative security applications that were already installed and asked us whether to automatically uninstall them. This too was painless, and on restarting the PC the Panda setup program resumed where it left off.

The program ran a basic scan on starting up, and found several cookies that it didn't like, and marked as such. However, it was hard to see at first sight that they were only cookies and not something more dangerous.

This is a problem across most anti-spyware programs, not just Panda, but it could certainly be clearer about what kinds of spyware it finds and how dangerous each one is. It came up with a couple of 'suspected vulnerabilities' but didn’t explain what they were, although it did include a link to Windows Update to install the appropriate patches.

Alerts come via small pop-ups in the bottom-right of the screen, which are persistent but not annoying. The firewall and anti-virus elements will block anything that's thrown at them, and Panda's TruPrevent technology can catch early viruses that haven't yet been neutralised by the labs. We're told that this is not installed by default if the program finds less than 500MB of free memory, so it's worth making sure that it's active, as the program won't tell you otherwise.

The included SpamKiller worked as well as those from other leading anti-virus companies, with a trickle of spam still making it into the inbox. The anti-spyware component also works, and reasonably quickly, but it's not quite as powerful a cleaner as Spyware Doctor, for example. There's a simple parental control feature, which works using a blacklist of sites, but can't block internet use by time.

The software comes with three licenses, which is a handy bonus, and it's possible to buy longer licenses than the standard one-year term, from Panda's website.

Also consider:
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus v10 security suite
A straightforward anti-virus and security package for non-technical home users

Grisoft AVG Internet Security
A good internet protection suite, especially for those who don't use Outlook or Outlook Express

PC-Cillin Internet Security 2007
A decent enough Internet security package that’s more suited to networked PCs than single desktop environments