Your friend is trying to sell you on his preferences. Not to say that there is anything wrong with Trend Micro as I have used their search engine myself on more than one occasion.

use what ever program that you feel comfortable in installing and using. No matter what it is that you use...it will only work so long as you yourself practice safe browsing and computer usage techniques.

You are the first line of defense There is no one size fits all in computer protection/security.

decide what it is you want in a security program.
1) a suite...a full package of protection with auto updating and all that.. But remember that in choosing this avenue then you are relinquishing control of your computer to the security program. There is less customizing with this type of package deal
2) Individual protection packages
a)Free versions ...you must update them
b) paid versions are self updating
In these programs you have a more customizing selection to work with but must take care in selecting compatible programs.

While there may be other reasons for choosing...this breaks it down to its simplest form.