Don't be afraid, you're not the only one planning to switch to a freeware antivirus solution. And no, despite all the rumors, using a free application doesn't necessarily mean that you're less protected that in the case of using a paid tool. Anyway, the application you're about to read about deserves all the praises.
AVG Free Edition is one of the few freeware antivirus applications that should really be taken into consideration when thinking about a freeware software to protect your data. Truth is, it only provides basic protection, but this should be enough in case you're not an avid computer user that downloads tons of files from the Internet.