Microsoft Releases Security Essentials

Microsoft releases its free Security Essentials

Not sure if anyone has tried the beta beforehand but it is now on public release.

Available from the official page - Microsoft Security Essentials

I like the fact that Microsoft is taking an approach to securing pcs, but I don't think I would trust Microsoft with my security just yet.

I'm of the same mind as danperteet for now and I'm happy with my security. I will be keeping an eye on Security Essentials and i hope it goes well for Microsoft, there up against some very good security freeware.

Hi guys a good few months since i last posted on here but so far all has run smoothly.
I have been running Kaspersky beta for win7 and using the odd check with Malwarebytes and Spybot with no probs this morning i installed MSE and have found my system to be slowing down then locking up while Kaspersky scans, now wanting to give MSE a run for its money, so to speak ,I have uninstalled Kaspersky and all seams to be running fine.
Just wondering if any other users will come back to you guys with similar probs.
Kind regards and keep up the good work

I've got KIS 2010 installed and had MSE installed for a day (but not on active scan mode). As you had 2 on-demand scanners running at the same time your system will noticably slow down, so it's best to only use one at a time. You can have more than one installed if you only use it on-demand, but there isn't too much point in most cases.

Good to see you on the site again

Some really nasty conflicts can occur with two active Anti-virus scanners, which is why most AV vendors warn against using other AV programs in conjunction with their products. (Microsoft explicitly warns against this with MSE as well)

So far I am seriously liking MSE... it uses 8MB of RAM, the installation is 64bit, and it only uses 13MB in the program files folder. The interface is simple without the glitter AV's love to use to make their programs seem more beefy or secure, but after some quick testing I can say the program just works.

Microsoft should know better than anybody how to best monitor their own OS for active threats, and their history with Windows Defender seems to have paid off. I'm going to keep using MSE for now, or until I find a reason not to.

Totaly agree with Kougars comment, i am sure that win7 and Mse will compliment each othe rand go further to produce a secure system.
Regards all

Hm, apparently since Microsoft Live Essentials is basically a more advanced, comprehensive version of Windows Defender, after installation MSE automatically turns off Windows Defender. So the overhead is even lower that I thought, since the user simply trades Defender for Security Essentials.

Here's a quick look from Ars Technica on it: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/new...-impresses.ars

I have been using MSE on both of my laptops for almost a month and so far, I'm impressed. At first, I was afraid that it would be like Windows Defender, since they look alike. Windows Defender slowed my laptop badly, and there's one thing I can't stand. A program asking me is it alright to install a program. Windows 7 does that as well, but it isn't time consuming. It looks like Microsoft has done a really good job creating an anti virus program. It's lightweight, fast and effective. Now that Microsoft has released two excellent products this year (MSE & Windows 7), let's see what they can do with IE. We need IE to be a compliment to Windows 7, as MSE is.

I have been using it through the entire Beta era. My own private tests (very inadequate!) againgst AVGFree and Avast were interesting. The two free programs, in my initial stages of running MSE, found nothing.. MSE, on very first installation, found a Spy cookie. It was insignificant, as a threat, but congrats to MS. As already pointed out, the program uses less resources than most. Even it's automatic update of definitions is smooth and trouble free. I can see, browsing, that it is creeping up the benchmarks also.