A great post mtrump, well worded and informative, I'm just going to respond to two bits in there and then maybe it's best to agree to disagree on this one. 
First:
mtrump wrote:
Features such as "firewall, network security features, email filter, and identity protection features" - that you quoted - are not specifically antimalware
This statement is pedantic. All of these features will protect, against many malware attacks, especially spyware. Just because this is not what they were originally designed for doesn't matter.
mtrump wrote:
Nowadays, antivirus software does more than just viruses, but have expanded to other unwanted software as well. As a result, it is no longer needed to have a separate antispyware product, because current versions of "antivirus" software is able to detect spyware and other unwanted software as well. Therefore, these software are "antivirus" by name only; in fact that can probably change their product names to "antimalware" and still be valid (if that makes you more comfortable). I guess the name "antivirus" has been stuck for so long and the marketing departments of these companies decide to keep the name.
It is true that antivirus will check for non-virus threats and sometimes even fix them, I don't dispute this in the least. It is not true, however, that they will do it as well as a program designed to do just that, such as Lavasoft's AdAware, Spybot S&D, or Spyware Doctor. Having these in addition to an antivirus is many times more effective than just having your antivirus software. Also, a security suite that includes the features mentioned above will be much more effective than just an antivirus program.
As a closing statement, you can safely use any anti-spyware program, including those I mentioned, along-side any of these antivirus or security products. They do not conflict with each other, as is usually the case with using more than one antivirus or security suite.
