AfterDawn: News

Microsoft released free anti-virus software

Earlier this week, Microsoft officially made its free anti-virus software available for download after being beta tested for some time. Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It updates daily to ensure that it keeps its database up-to-date with the latest virus and other malware threats.

"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's website reads.



"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." The Redmond giant said that it is not out to steal business from anti-virus companies such as McAfee or Symantec Corporation.

Instead, Microsoft is hoping that people who do not already run anti-virus software, and will not consider buying anti-virus software, will be the ones who choose to run Microsoft Security Essentials.

More info: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Written by: James Delahunty @ 1 Oct 2009 0:59

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• 33 comments

• xnonsuchx

  I wonder if it'll rank better than 43rd among other anti-virus software like their last attempt did? You'd THINK the maker of an OS would know how to clean it up the best, right???

  1.10.2009 01:06 #1

• Amak

  Originally posted by xnonsuchx: I wonder if it'll rank better than 43rd among other anti-virus software like their last attempt did? You'd THINK the maker of an OS would know how to clean it up the best, right???Just because they can make the OS does NOT mean they can undo what malicious code does.

  1.10.2009 01:52 #2

• MUNKYEARS

  Problems that they face is everyone expects this to solve every viral code problem on Windows because they produced it. Wrong...it would take months if not years to try and correct these problems but even if they started that, Malicious code would have found more and more ways to access it. Its only made from currently existing technology.. No biggie in my case... ill stick with Kaspersky for now...

  1.10.2009 04:44 #3

• xnonsuchx

  Quote:Originally posted by xnonsuchx: I wonder if it'll rank better than 43rd among other anti-virus software like their last attempt did? You'd THINK the maker of an OS would know how to clean it up the best, right???Just because they can make the OS does NOT mean they can undo what malicious code does.Are there any other points you can completely misrepresent???

  1.10.2009 07:05 #4

• rakych

  Here is a question for everyone. Just like Gator paid Microsoft not to detect its spyware, who else has paid Microsoft so that they won't be detected as well. We all know that anything that is free is not really free.

  1.10.2009 07:44 #5

• Gnawnivek

  It's free right? So what's not to like? Just because it's coming from MS?

  1.10.2009 09:08 #6

• pippincp

  Originally posted by Gnawnivek: It's free right? So what's not to like? Just because it's coming from MS?That in itself is the best reason not to like it (or want it)!
  
  You really want to rely on a company who produces inherently insecure systems, supplies critical security updates on a regular basis to keep your PC secure??
  
  I certainly wouldn't. I'll stick to the tried and tested paid for security which has protected me for years.

  1.10.2009 09:29 #7

• atomicxl

  I'm getting a bit tired of all the multicolor pop ups that Avast gives me so I might try this out. Not surprised that MS gives out free anti-virus software and the AfterDawn community response is extreme disgust and hatred.

  1.10.2009 09:36 #8

• mikecUSA

  Yeah, the people who brought you phonehomeWGA aren't going to hide some nasty little things in there that will A) give them sneak and peak powers B) give the FED sneak and peak powers, or C) the power to ciompletely disable the functionality of your PC should they detect some kind of MODification to their or someone elses software of hardware. Don't trust this, is the only advice I can give. Be wary of know racketeers bearing "gifts".

  1.10.2009 09:39 #9

• bam431

  i just bought a mac

  1.10.2009 10:01 #10

• KillerBug

  This isn't the first time Microsoft has released a free "security" suite...and it won't be the last. Windows 7 comes with a firewall and a spy ware scanner...yet you still need a firewall and a spy ware scanner from someone else because these tools don't work. Now they want to add a virus scanner...when they can't even make a working spy ware scanner?
  
  I think this is to take on anti-virus companies like McAfee and Symantec...both of these companies sell terrible, unreliable software that will let detected viruses infect system files (and tell you about it later). They do this while sapping performance and manifesting many of the traits of spy ware, such as browser bars and intentionally broken uninstallers. Anyone ignorant enough to trust one of these would also be ignorant enough to trust the Microsoft tool...and they probably have AOL too.

  1.10.2009 10:24 #11

• Renfraus

  Does anyone know if M$ new AV is based on RAV? RAV was an excellent AV that I used to use until M$ bought them out and shut them down.

  1.10.2009 11:44 #12

• bigdawg71

  Originally posted by atomicxl: I'm getting a bit tired of all the multicolor pop ups that Avast gives me so I might try this out. Not surprised that MS gives out free anti-virus software and the AfterDawn community response is extreme disgust and hatred. Atomicxl i have avast and i dont get any pop ups do u have any anti spyware program on your computer?

  1.10.2009 13:00 #13

• Mez

  atomicxl, you you think the M$ hate is unwarrented?
  
  They are not at all trustworthy and I think most of their products produced this century are way off the mark, with the possible exception to W7. I would say they have the most bold faced liars than any other corporation in the world. They assume everyone is a moron. I feel that is insulting.

  1.10.2009 13:56 #14

• scorpNZ

  The biggest windows security risk is the user,no amount of security ware can protect the OS from you,followed by 3rd party software including so called security software

  1.10.2009 14:26 #15

• Mez

  scorpNZ,
  
  I am more interested in just protecting my computer from a virus is that such a wierd request?
  
  Personally, I feel software that tries to protect me from me is infuriating. 99.9% of the time the software gets it wrong.
  
  We always have to worry about stupid mistakes made by us or others especially when we are behind the wheel. Why should the computer be different?

  1.10.2009 14:44 #16

• scorpNZ

  lmao...it wasn't directed at you in particular tho it may have seemed like it,i mentioned user first then the word "you" in other words the reader

  1.10.2009 15:35 #17

• Mez

  scorpNZ, I didn't think you were targeting me. Don't think I am ranting and raving at you, I am not.
  
  M$ and for that matter Apple, have earned a large following that hate their guts. I for one do not hate them enough not to buy a product that I needed but I am far from a fan boy.
  
  A am more than fed up with a industry that really doesn't give a rats ass about the quality of their product they hope countless pointless features my confuse the user enough that they forget the basic features do not work well. I resent that Vista tries to hide how much free space you have on your hard disk. WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS IS THAT!!!??? On all previous versions it was prominently posted by defualt as it should be. My son has a Vista computer. He loaded a DVD full of mp3s to play 1. Without asking, Vista decided that it would load all the tunes into the media player library unfortunately there wasn't enough room on the computer, so the computer died. I would like to have a 1 on 1 with the M$ manager of that project. He would have blood coming out his ass after I was done with him! There were half dozen inexcusable errors that took place. The first is, the kid had no idea he was running out of hard disk space.

  1.10.2009 17:29 #18

• shaffaaf

  Originally posted by bam431: i just bought a mac GET THE F**K OUT OF MY THREAD!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  :P joke :D

  1.10.2009 17:46 #19

• bobiroc

  Quote:Originally posted by Gnawnivek: It's free right? So what's not to like? Just because it's coming from MS?That in itself is the best reason not to like it (or want it)!
  
  You really want to rely on a company who produces inherently insecure systems, supplies critical security updates on a regular basis to keep your PC secure??
  
  I certainly wouldn't. I'll stick to the tried and tested paid for security which has protected me for years.MacOS releases regular security updates too. Hundreds of MBs of Security updates so does that mean MacOS is inherently insecure too? Microsoft Security Essentials tested well against the competition and is based off of their Forefront security Suite which has more features and is a paid suite. Microsoft has made great improvements to their OS and security and Vista and Win7 have proven to be much more secure than its predecessor. Of course people complained about the security improvements such as UAC prompting for changes to the system and many people disabled it leaving their system at more risk. Your impression of Windows being inherently insecure is just an opinion based on the amount of Malware out for Windows. The reason there is a lot of Malware out is because of Windows popularity and the fact that it is installed on over 80% of the worlds computers so the malware writers go after the majority. Tests have shown that under attack and not protected MacOS falls faster than Windows does and it is that no one cares to attack an OS that has 6% of the worlds market share.

  1.10.2009 18:09 #20

• bobiroc

  Originally posted by bam431: i just bought a macYeah and I have had people tell me they did the same and installed windows on their Mac with no protection. Brings it back to the end user being the primary cause of their systems being insecure.

  1.10.2009 18:10 #21

• Rebel11

  Ah Microsoft... lol.
  
  I'll try it out. But I'll most like stick with AVG.
  And these people saying Macs are more secure? That's like saying Linux is more secure. It's not. It's been proven that Linux/Mac are easier to hack than Windows. It's just that Windows OS's account for about 90% (give or take) of computers. So why would someone make a virus to infect the 2% linux users? or the 8% Mac users?
  
  
  And I'm surprised to see ANYONE on After dawn using Kaspersky. When I tried it, it had ALOT of false positives. But to each their own i guess.
  
  And to scorpNZ
  I agree with you. 100%. People should kinda be able to figure out what is a virus and what isn't before they download. And not go to shady sites. It's pretty common sense. Like for example. My friend called me over cause he had a virus. And I asked what he downloaded right before he got it.... He said "CS4 but it didn't work" and i asked to see the file.... at was like a 50kb file....

  1.10.2009 20:38 #22

• elliott

  I Been beta testing this software since June it has cleaned flawelessly every pc that has come to me for repair. I usually use AVG and Malwarebytes but surprise surprise this really does work and low system drain its a straight forward simple av like a throwback from before bloat ware and that is strange coming from MS. Try it before you say its sux.

  2.10.2009 00:56 #23

• MUNKYEARS

  The term "what you dont know cant hurt you" comes to mind when you say that it cleans flawlessly. if you can prove that it has cleaned it flawlessly then i would happily give you my company.
  
  i can guarantee that something will be lying in wait for that machine.
  
  But i know damn well it didnt clean it flawlessly... there were probably cookies and other minor threats on your machines compared to rootkits and other malicious code.

  2.10.2009 04:34 #24

• elliott

  Well don't take the word flawlessly so literally and I can tell u when I ran Malwarebytes afterwards it found no threats nor did Avg. I also found PC Advisor UK ranked it 4th in free av software but that review is from the beta. I have not gotten any infections myself and I often have to hook up the Hard drives from infected pc's to my pc just to back up and save pics and docs it caught the threats as I moved files from one hd to my own for backing up sometimes a pc can be so infected I literally can't boot it up and have to back up and save what is salvageable before reformatting. It passes the Eicar test and some game cheats sites I use it found and stopped a drive by download Avg never caught. All I am saying is give it a try its free you can always go back to what you were using. I also use SpywareBlaster & SpyGuardian but the only Firewall I use is the Windows Vista firewall and it passes Gibson Research tests.

  2.10.2009 06:21 #25

• fWillie

  For the Slashdot crowd...
  
  Does it run in Linux?
  
  :)
  
  Seriously though, I have a feeling that this "free" edition is just another way of MS trying to kill its competition. What competition you say? Well, if you offer a free product that is available for a price elsewhere in the market, people tend to gravitate towards the free, taking market share(look into IE vs netscape for a history perspective). MS has the marketing presence (most people have one in their home) and soon, companies like Mcafee and Symantec are struggling in the market. MS swoops in and BAM! the Free product becomes a value-added service. Enter another revenue stream at the cost of competition.
  
  This cycle just repeats itself time and time again. We as a society should be wiser than this to keep falling for it.

  2.10.2009 11:46 #26

• bobiroc

  Originally posted by fWillie: For the Slashdot crowd...
  
  Does it run in Linux?
  
  :)
  
  Seriously though, I have a feeling that this "free" edition is just another way of MS trying to kill its competition. What competition you say? Well, if you offer a free product that is available for a price elsewhere in the market, people tend to gravitate towards the free, taking market share(look into IE vs netscape for a history perspective). MS has the marketing presence (most people have one in their home) and soon, companies like Mcafee and Symantec are struggling in the market. MS swoops in and BAM! the Free product becomes a value-added service. Enter another revenue stream at the cost of competition.
  
  This cycle just repeats itself time and time again. We as a society should be wiser than this to keep falling for it.
  Yet free Antivirus solutions have been available for years and yet I see hundreds of computers a year that I take in as side jobs that have expired or no antivirus software what so ever. And you know what since SP2 of XP the little red shield that comes up and says your computer is not protected takes you to a web page with a variety of Antivirus Solutions so they are advertising for the competition. So Microsoft releases a decent solution and one that is easy to use and is FREE! and yet all you can do is be a troll and bash them some more. So you feel that Microsoft should sit back and just let people complain about viruses and security when they can try and do something about it?
  
  "WAH! WAH! WAH! Windows has so many viruses Microsoft Sucks"
  
  "Microsoft has a free software to help protect me from Viruses and Spyware WAH! WAH! WAH! They Are just trying to be anti-competitive."
  
  Make up your mind people. Do you want Microsoft to try and secure it's OS or not? People complain about security with Microsoft and when they do something about it people complain again. I don't get it.

  2.10.2009 12:07 #27

• elliott

  AMEN BOBIROC....Microsoft can win for losing and yet are also one of the most pirated in the world....sad shape of things be happy MS is becoming more proactive.

  2.10.2009 20:09 #28

• ChiefBrdy

  I wonder what company MS bought to release this software.

  3.10.2009 20:50 #29

• elliott

  the bought I beleive a Bulgarian Anti-virus company several years ago thats how the built Onecare and this software is a stripped down version of Onecare. The Anti-spyware was orignally from a Company I think called Bullseye but I could be wrong however they did acquire a antispy company from which the original Microsoft AntiSpyware beta of four years ago came from. Lots of Companies get bought and sold look at Budwieser now a Dutch company and Campbells now a English company.

  3.10.2009 21:22 #30

• ChiefBrdy

  MS is becoming more passe every day. I use Firefox and OpenOffice now. When Google releases their OS, I'll say goodbye to Microsoft for good. Their OS is bloated, memory hogging crap. I'll admit XP was decent but they destroyed any usability when they released Vista and Windows 7. From their ridiculous search scheme to moving 'Explore' when you right click.
  
  Fortunately for MS, businesses will continue to use MS because it's so intertwined in their lives, they don't know any thing else. Eventually though, MS will go the way of the dinosaur.
  
  Free virus sw. Pleeeze. McAfee, Norton and Kaspersky have been free after rebate for years. I'm not complaining mind you. I'm just yawning.

  3.10.2009 22:56 #31

• elliott

  I can understand where your coming from I use many open source programs myself. However I have also heard that same thing for many years the doom of Microsoft. I happen to like Vista and I did some test runs of Windows 7 which lets me honest is just a stripped down version of Vista. I was happy with XP but honestly and truthfully I am happier with Vista. I use a Mac at work don't really like it as much but if your an average user and all u do is surf, do some webmail, and a bit of word processing u don't need more than Linux. The thing is when your like me and you are a gamer, video phile you want something that is accessable to those peripherals u need and the games u want to play enter Microsoft.

  3.10.2009 23:40 #32

• wazzat

  You're going to trust MS because it's free? You'd better know how to backup your polished OS NOW. You won't have it afterwards. Avast and Avira may work and are free, I've used them occasionally. But buying single user Panda IS 2009 for $5 from 5$ software seemed a better deal. F-secure was my favorite. Kaspersky is linked with F-secure. But Panda's cloud AV protection seems worth investigating. Used Panda for 3/4 years and it works very well. doesn't let anything leak through. With Ubuntu Jaunty just installed KlamAV because Verizon has been messing with my email and Jaunty was able to let me send and receive email when OE failed for 2 weeks.

  11.10.2009 09:30 #33