The review that I saw was in a computer magazine, I dont remember what mag it was as it was a good few years ago.
But back to the problem of allowing the anti virus acces to the kernels. They have said that not allowing them access to the kernels doesn't stop hackers getting to the kernels, but when hackers get to the kernels because Ms wont have said that if they release any security upgrades that would solve the problem they will issue a patch that will cause the pc to crash and give a blue screen all MS are doing is allowing hackers to have free rein while stopping the anti virus from being effective.
Edit: I will accept that you have a broader knowledge than me and therefore what you say must be true but can you just tell me if MC Afee / Norton are they hopeless or are they just not as good as the others, and are they that bad that you should get shut of them? Wouldn't the large size of those two companys mean that you get new virus definition protection quicker as they have larger resources? Also can you recomend a different anti virus.
One more point, I find that the GUI and the general ease of use with Mc Afee is a lot better than most other anti virus software.