Download Microsoft Security Essentials

Are there any advantages of Security Essentials over McAfee? I get McAfee free as part of Comcast internet. I used the Microsoft live product before it was ditched by Microsoft.

Mainly ease of use. I got McAfee free for a year with my bank account, and although the UI was though and good for doing complex things with, it was hard ti find what you wanted sometimes. SE is very simple and quick to use, but it does have the complex features as well, and works better than McAffee.

Is this an Anti-Virus, or Anti-Malware (or both) program?

I am currently using the Vista 64bit version of Symantec Antivirus 10 which installed and appears to run fine, but I get a message stating that Windows 7 has changed how the software reports to the OS and I should check my vendor for an update. Unfortunately, my AV program is the student version and I am no longer able to access the University site (no longer a student) so I'd have to pop for the retail version. (Which I hear is nowhere near as good as the corporate version that you get from the University)...

Will the software actually do it's job even if it isn't reporting properly? Or would it be in my best interest to just uninstall and go with the MS Security Essentials?

MSE is both AV and anti malware combined. Regarding Symantec, if you are no longer able to access updates for the definitions then you may as well give it the boot. It is pointless having an AV with out of date definitons, its like using a toothbrush without toothpaste!. Without the latest definitions on board you are not protected from the latest threats.

I still have access to definitions, just not the newest version of the software. The corporate version doesn't expire like the retail version does, I just don't have access to download the latest version which might be fully Windows 7 compatible.

That being said, I'd rather have a software package that fully integrates with the OS, so I may just give essentials a go and see how it runs.

I've downloaded & installed MSE on both of my laptops to tryout, but they both are running XP Pro. I'll see how it goes on them before I install on this PC. I'm running Avast on it, as well as the Win 2K Pro portions on the laptops. I've trusted Avast for a while now, but here lately I got a couple of false positives. A trojan horse in the page sys. file. You can't put that file in the chest or delete it. So I scanned it with Windows Live Safety Scanner and all that was reported was some Active X files to delete. But I'm giving MSE a trial, and am waiting for other positive publicity. Some of Microsoft's programs are spyware, just read the EULA and in the fine print, you'll see it.

MSE is a first class anti virus program, and for the price: A legal version of Windows 7, Vista or XP that will validate. That's not asking much. It's lightweight, scans fast and through and has not yet came up with a false positive. You can and should schedule scans, I do mine when I know that I'm most likely going to be online, that's how I know that it doesn't slow you down. If you have been shelling out big bucks for virus protection, try this one out. Most likely, you'll stay with it.

Anti-malware testing group AV-Comparatives.org not only gave Microsoft Security Essentials a top rating for malware removal, but now they've given it their best ranking in their performance test as well...

Read the rest of the article here:
http://lifehacker.com/5433229/micros...free-antivirus

I added MSE to my dad's computer over the weekend, and it does seem very light on resources on a low/mid-spec machine from what I could tell.

Thanks for the update on AV-Comparatives, it looks like this application is one to watch

I agree! If I was building a computer for a not-too-computer-savy person, this would be my top choice as it installs easily and is a snap to set up and run. It's basically a set and forget program. I can't tell how many times a person new to computers says, "Well, I had this Anti Virus thingie but I turned it off because it was too confusing!". I highly doubt you'd hear that said after you took out the limited version that was installed with the purchase and put this in instead