It seems like more and more the third party antivirus is just bloated and problematic.

Just looking for confirmation from some bright minds before pulling the plug.

I use a Mac and don't have to worry about that I am told.
So far so good.

It's only been a few weeks & so far so good. I used Norton for years but it got pretty costly so I switched to some crap bloatware last year & finally deleted it.

They have some pretty good bundle deals for an annual subscription. Some starter packages allow you to install on three different devices.

Edited to add. Still running Windows 10, though. Some packages allow installation on both Mac and Windows platforms.

I've used the inbuilt virus/malware on Windows, plus some additional add-ons for web browser which is mostly the origin of current risks.

I've had no problems whatsoever.

It compares favorably to most paid-for AV programs.

For a little additional protection, install Malwarebytes Browser Guard in each browser you use. It's free and helps avoid those sketchy sites you mentioned.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/browserguard

Sorry for not replying timely and individually - I got busy during the week. Sounds like the consensus is to avoid the bloatware and stick with the built in Windows protection. I like the Malwarebytes suggestion also - I have used that before. Mostly I use DuckDuckGo as a browser and I think that handles a lot of the browser issues. But it might be worth it to protect the other browsers for when I want to or have to use those.

Thanks again for the help!