Many security researchers have come to the conclusion that there is really no good way anymore to protect home users from getting infected with malware. Many websites require to run code in addition to simply rendering HTML. This code can be doing things you wouldn't want done in the background. Also, drive-by worm infections or zero-day rootkits make the challenge of protecting systems even more severe.
The only way to miss out on all this fun is not to click the wrong links, which is impossible having in mind the obliviousness of most internet users. Therefore, a new solution has been suggested by companies such as Qumranet and Check Point Software. The solution is to virtualize browsers or even whole Operating systems, so you may be able to dispose of them and change them with new and uninfected ones easily.
The Qumranet software is generally for corporations and has a price-tag still shrouded in mystery, The Check Point Software's ZoneAlarm ForceField is home user oriented software, which is, quite importantly, cheap ($29.95), most probably easy to use and even somewhat amusing, since it's generally fun to throw things away.
The virtualization method is really a big relief, since instead of trying to block and remove the many threats that attack us today, we will be able to throw away software together with whatever worms, viruses, spyware and other things it may have.
Alas, this will not protect us from getting personal data stolen and other such cyber-crimes.
