Free Microsoft security software
As posted yesterday, Microsoft has today made its Security Essentials software available for download. Here’s the Microsoft description:
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.
Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
Added later: Be sure to uninstall previous anti-virus software before trying out the new program. Another possible problem is from firewalls or other security software. I didn’t disable my ZoneAlarm firewall, which blocked the Microsoft software’s attempt to go online and froze my computer. Also, note that after installation, Security Essentials will do a system scan. On my XP system with dual-core CPU and 2 GB of RAM, the computer was really slow during the scan.
Here’s a link to a review at ZDNet by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes.
Neil Rubenking of PCMag gives a review in depth. He is not particularly impressed:
Microsoft pulled the plug on its Windows Live OneCare security suite before it reached version 3. The company promised to replace it (sort of) with a slim, free tool specifically aimed at malware protection. The just-released Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 offers consumers protection against malware, but in real-world testing it didn’t impress.
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