New model-year security products used to come out in the fall, like new model-year cars. In 2011, though, the first 2012 antivirus (G Data AntiVirus 2012 ($29.95 direct, 3.5 stars) turned up way back in May. So far PCMag has reviewed over a dozen antivirus tools explicitly identified as 2012 models, along with a number of others released during the same period.

Testing the Tools
To evaluate antivirus utilities I rely on hands-on, real-world testing. The malware removal test involves installing each product on a dozen malware-infested virtual machines and challenging it to clean them up. This article explains how I get from those tests to the figures in the chart that follows: How We Test Malware Removal.