In 2009, Microsoft released it’s own free antivirus program. This is not the first time they have released an antivirus program, you may remember Windows Live One Care, a low-rate antivirus service. Questions arise about how good this free program really is, is it worth your time?
Interested in Security Essentials? Download from here: http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/
It’s So Easy! (and all that 1, 2, 3 jazz)
In fact, you install it, update it, and it’s running. Though, it won’t leave “Orange” status (medium security risk) until you do at least a quick-scan. I now install Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on my client’s computer for the following reasons:
1. There are no license keys to bounce around, and it will not expire
2. It really is easy to use. Everything the average computer user needs is on the main screen… scan now, update… scan some more.
3. It sets up automatic scanning by itself (default is a quick scan at 1AM every morning)
The Technicle Technical Stuff in Testing
According to Av-test.org:
“We continued testing the detection rates of Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows XP. For this, we used our set of 545,034 current malware samples, including viruses, worms, backdoors, bots and trojan horses. MSSE was able to detect 536,535 samples what’s a very good detection score of 98.44 per cent.
In case of the ad-/spyware testset, MSSE detected 12,935 out of 14,222 samples what’s a detection score of 90.95 per cent. We found no false positives during our scan of 600,000 known clean files from Windows, Office and other common applications (as the majority of these files are from Microsoft, everything else would be a big surprise.” – Av-test.org
Unfortunately, the “Bad Behaviors” test did not do so well. Programs instructed to do virus-like things were not detected in any of the tests. Considering how many other free services do not even offer this type of detection, I don’t think it’s a major worry.
It’s a monopoly!
Based on my opinions
Microsoft will probably never start releasing free antivirus pre-installed in their operating systems. Nor do I believe that Microsoft will ever make a cooperate-network version of their antivirus, or a server edition. Although this would make things easier, one can imagine the monopoly issues attach to this type of concern. Much as I would rather know that a major majority of PC’s are running antivirus, further preventing massive spread, I like knowing that there are competitors still existing.
The Microsoft Advantage
Microsoft has a certain advantage with making their own antivirus program: They made Windows. And as such, I am sure that their program will soon offer advantages that directly implement into the operating system itself, speeding up detection rates and making it overall better.
Edit: Oh noes! A typo in my posts tile! Original created: Feb 22, 2010 at 1:53PM. This edit Feb 28, 6:17PM.
Re: "will soon offer advantages that directly implement into the operating system itself" Win-7 definitely has it. Vista tried, but it was a total PITA.
"It's so easy" I agree, but can nerds (it's a compliment coming from me) really make this statement to the broad public?
With that said, this blog did not really convince me to switch from Alvira to Microsoft Security Essencials (SIC, come on, Jesse. You can spell better than that) for Antivirus
I like your writing, your blog. Just keep doing and learning and making it better.
Ah, now I know what you mean by [sic], to indicate that you are intentionally making a typo either because you decided that it fit, or in a quotation it indicates that the original text had the same typo! (I had never seen that notation before.)
I was surprised at how easy MSE was to install. Besides the actual installation process (click, agree, click click), the interface is arranged in a way that… I can’t quite describe it, let’s just say: Microsoft did well, in my opinion. An antivirus program should not be a mystery, and you should not feel overwhelmed by trying to change any settings.
Avast, in my opinion, was especially bad when it came to user-friendliness. Their interface used a lot of non-text labels, you had to be familiar with the program to know what anything did. AVG even had a few complex things, especially when it came to setting up advanced options, everything was in long lists with drop-down menus with a lot of selections to choose from. (Drop-downs are a pain, which is why I would call that a negative… I’m sure Old Man Drop-Down will make me have dreams about what the world would be like without drop-down menus… Me: “Looks like I need to make a single selection on this website, but I can’t figure out how to!” Old Man Drop-Down: “No drop-down menus means complex selections to make! No Drop-Downs!” but, that’s another insane story for another time.)
Dropdown menus are like highrise buildings in a crowded city. Sometimes cyber-"space" is at a premium. ;-]