McAfee and Norton are notoriously bloated and inefficient.

The only minus for Windows Defender is that is relies on static virus signatures, where other anti-malware tools apply heuristics that flag suspicious behavior.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/configure-protection-features-microsoft-defender-antivirus

Microsoft Defender Antivirus uses several methods to provide threat protection:

Cloud protection for near-instant detection and blocking of new and emerging threats

Always-on scanning, using file and process behavior monitoring and other heuristics (also known as "real-time protection&quot

Dedicated protection updates based on machine learning, human and automated big-data analysis, and in-depth threat resistance research

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/configure-real-time-protection-microsoft-defender-antivirus

Always-on protection consists of real-time protection, behavior monitoring, and heuristics to identify malware based on known suspicious and malicious activities. These activities include events, such as processes making unusual changes to existing files, modifying or creating automatic startup registry keys and startup locations (also known as autostart extensibility points, or ASEPs), and other changes to the file system or file structure. Always-on protection is an important part of your antivirus protection and should be enabled.

but I get a big discount from my cable/internet provider. If I had to pay full price, I would just use Defender.

1. Use browser Duckduckgo and or Brave

2. if you have a local geek, have them install a hosts.txt file for various blocking

3. ( additional strategies for hiding financial passwords)

( there’s more but i hesitate to give information which may be outdated or something)

The built in MS security since Win10. No problems with it. Keep in mind that most malware and other stuff ends up on your computer because you've clicked on something you shouldn't, so safe browsing habits really help.