Windows users love free antivirus programs for many reasons. No. 1, of course, is that they cost no money, but provide basic protection against malware.

But there are other factors, as well. Free security software typically has a smaller memory and resources footprint than brand-name antimalware products. There typically are fewer or less-intrusive marketing nags, even when a free offering's goal is to give you a taste of a paid version.

So it was interesting to read this Tech.Blorge interview with Symantec product manager David Hall who blasted free antivirus solutions in favor of - you guessed it - paid products.

"If you are only relying on free antivirus to offer you protection in this modern age, you are not getting the protection you need to be able to stay clean and have a reasonable chance of avoiding identity theft," he said.

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According to Hall, there is a widening gap between people's understanding of what protection they need and the threats they're actually facing.

"People tell me, oh well look I use free antivirus because it is free and it protects me from everything in those areas, but when you compare that with what's really going on in the threat landscape, there is a very, very big gap between what antivirus does and the threats that are being delivered today."

Hall discusses the threat from drive-by downloads via browsers with unpatched security flaws, as well as vulnerabilities in common plug-ins, such as Flash players and PDF readers. His argument: Free antimalware programs are so limited that they don't protect in modern ways.

Full-featured programs, he insists, can stop malware before it even gets installed on your computer. Freeware titles tend to react once the malicious code is in place and starting to do harm. The multiple layers of security found in commercial software does a better job of protecting users, he maintains.

Of course, you don't need even a kindergarten diploma to figure out that Hall's being self-serving here. In a down economy, people are increasingly looking to cut expenses, and free software certainly has an edge in that regard.

Hall's primary target appears to be the recent - and very brief - beta release of Microsoft Security Essentials, a free antivirus suite due out later this year. It really is a minimalist offering, but for those who are smart about how they use their computers and generally stay away from the darker corners of the Web, it may be all that's needed.

And Hall is not completely accurate when he says free antivirus programs don't offer more than basic protection. For example, the popular AVG Free software offers both antivirus and antispyware protection; mail scanning; link-scanning that checks Web sites for infection; and instant-messaging protection. While that doesn't quite match Norton Internet Security's feature set, it's more than just the minimum.

If the Tech.Blorge writer asked Hall about the bloated nature of security software from companies like Symantec and McAfee, he doesn't include that discussion in this piece. Additional layers of security come at a price - often the degradation of PC performance, informational popups and sometimes conflicts with other types of software.

To its credit, Symantec is working on this issue. I recently tried Norton 360 3.0, a consumer security suite. It's much less intrusive and resource-draining than previous Symantec products. The company has said that the latest version of its flagship, Norton Internet Security, also is friendlier, though I have yet to try it.

But there's also the issue of pricing and marketing, beyond the simple fact that Symantec's products aren't free. People tend to resent being constantly pressured for upgrades and subscription renewals.

In addition, if you never have a virus or spyware problem, paying an annual fee for security software seems like money thrown away. Sure, it's basically an insurance policy, but when you can get similar insurance without paying a dime, the cost begins to seem burdensome.