I run Avast! with malwarebytes and zone alarm...
I may be a "novice" with only a degree and a minimal amount of in field experience (5 years.)
The "best" AV software I have used personally is Kaspersky. One of the computers I worked on was bogged down heavy with malware, spyware and virus'. I installed Avast first because they didnt want to pay for AV. I ran avast and it took care of A LOT of the issues, but not all of them. Malwarebytes cleaned it up some more, but there were still some nasties left... I suggested that before I format, they run the trial of kaspersky... It cleaned up the system to almost new. A few registry errors that I had to go in and sort out, but it picked up 15 more threats than Avast and Malwarebytes were able to.
If I have a computer come in with the "I think I have a virus" sticky note... Kaspersky is my go to AV after I clean it out. I dont usually have any complaints since "I am the computer nerd"
(I used malware and spyware as if they were different... technically, some would consider malware a virus. but I consider malware to be nag ware or something along those lines... anything thats not technically a virus, but still disrupts the use of the computer)
I tried out bit defender, but found that I had too many calls asking "whats this" or "whats that" for someone who knows their way around a computer, it would be great I am sure...