When one of the largest computer manufacters like Dell starts offering anti-spyware software to it’s customers, then there is a problem. According it the article, 20 percent of the support calls are due to spyware.
For me, I am proactive against spyware. I have upgraded to WinXP SP2, which secures the operating system. I use Firefox, as my browser, to stop drive by browser hijacking and spyware sneaking onto my computer. Lastly I regularly scan my computer with Spybot-Search & Destroy and Lavasoft Ad-Aware, two free tools to detect spyware. Hopefully with a little prevention, you to do not have to deal with spyware.