# Microsoft's free antivirus/antispyware suite is out of beta



## Nebrexan (Sep 29, 2009)

> Reviews of the public beta were mostly positive, citing its low resource usage, straightforward user interface, and price point [free].
> -- Wikipedia article)


Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials


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## jandrusk (Sep 29, 2009)

Trusting Microsoft to produce your security software is like trusting Charles Manson to watch your children or like trusting your souls to the devil.


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## DMcFadden (Sep 29, 2009)

jandrusk said:


> Trusting Microsoft to produce your security software is like trusting Charles Manson to watch your children.





But, seriously, is it any good?


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## Semper Fidelis (Sep 29, 2009)

Who do you think has the most intelligence on hackers and malicious code in the entire world?

Every time a process fails because of malicious code the user has the option of sending the error information to Microsoft. Sometimes the script kiddies have their own machines fail as they're testing out their malware and click the button to send the error information to Microsoft. Microsoft sees all this data in the aggregate.

Security products like this are to reduce the amount of incidents that Microsoft has to deal with and, consequently, it will be as good as they can possibly make it. Anyone who understands the ITSM framework understands why this makes so much sense.


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## fredtgreco (Sep 29, 2009)

Rich,

Why confuse anything with facts? Obviously the 1% of users (and 0.01% of business users) know more than everyone else.


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## Semper Fidelis (Sep 29, 2009)

I'd love to get the users who think their systems are protected by their OS behind a green door so they can realize that denial is not just a river in Egypt.


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## DeoOpt (Sep 29, 2009)

Nebrexan said:


> > Reviews of the public beta were mostly positive, citing its low resource usage, straightforward user interface, and price point [free].
> > -- Wikipedia article)
> 
> 
> Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials



I use kaspersky and superAntispyware thay work just fine


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## DMcFadden (Sep 29, 2009)

I have been happy with Avast, but will change at the recommendation of Fred and Rich. Thanks, guys!


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## NaphtaliPress (Sep 29, 2009)

I have avast and McAfee; do I have to uninstall them to download and try MS's?


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## Semper Fidelis (Sep 29, 2009)

No but I wouldn't recommend having more than one AV program on your machine as performance will dramatically suffer.


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## DMcFadden (Sep 29, 2009)

I just installed Microsoft. Man, was that EASY!!!

They do advise you to uninstall or shut down your existing virus software before installing the Microsoft suite.


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## Semper Fidelis (Sep 29, 2009)

I did the same. I replaced Kaspersky with it.


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## VictorBravo (Sep 29, 2009)

I found some reviews of the beta version saying that it looked to be solid, but basic. I gather it is similar to what is offered by free AVG. Is there any information regarding whether the current release is as effective as the other free versions?

I do like that it is praised as not being a resource hog. 

For what it's worth, I've been pretty happy with MS lately. They came out with a free accounting program earlier this year: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/accountingexpress/FX101729681033.aspx

It's designed for small businesses and does more than what I need. The only draw back is that when it opens you are greeted by an ad suggesting you upgrade--but I can ignore that easily.


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## fredtgreco (Sep 29, 2009)

It does look like a very good product. I don't think I'll replace my paid AV (Eset) on those machines, but I will put it on the ones I have free-AV on.


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## Herald (Sep 29, 2009)

I used Avast and it was okay. I switched last year to Trend Micro and my machine runs smoother. I still had infiltrations with Avast. None with Trend Micro. Yes, I have to pay for it, but it has my hearty recommendation.


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## Gord (Sep 29, 2009)

I have all my bible software on XP, and very seldom connect the cable to the outside world. Used mainly for study and notes.

The mac has never had the problem, if you don't go looking for trouble, you will not find it.


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