#5 XoftSpySE (ParetoLogic)

XoftSpySE is an emerging software package, but it simply does not detect enough of the most significant threats. For example, you can say software removes millions of known spyware, which may for all you know be harmless cookies. Cookies simply track you so if you purchase a product, an affiliate is credited with the sale. Cookies are mostly completely harmless - they wont harm your system at all and you wont even know they're on your system. And just about every spyware killing software will remove them. That doesn't make it better protection. Having said that, ParetoLogic's XoftSpySE's spyware database is acceptable. By no means it is poor, and in actual fact is is still quite good. But here were are comparing software, and the database of known threats is still relatively small in comparison to the more popular packages such as Spyware Doctor and Spy Sweeper.

VERDICT: XoftSpySE is good, but not as good as the others. The scans are quick as you'd expect them to be, most of the major threats are covered, but not as many as competing software. The prices of security software are much the same, and again there's no reason why you wouldn't purchase the software that has won the most awards. The awards do count for something.