Totally agree!
They have been going downhill ever since they started bundling the "internet suite" (e.g. anti-spyware / firewall / coffee maker).
The only other free free programs that I know of are ClamAV and AVGast anti-virus. ClamAV doesn't have a resident scanner, and AVGast wants you to register every year to use the program.
So close to going back to linux after this... Come to think of it, what's stopping me???