R. Giskard Reventlov said:
Has anyone used it yet?
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/market.aspx
If you are not in the correct area it can be downloaded from here
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Microsoft-Security-Essentials.shtml
Not tried it yet myself. I use Avast atm - is it as good or better?
You should not download MS Security Essentials from a non-MS source. The
beta has been closed for a while. I have it on my Win7 box.
What I like: It is unobtrusive and seems light on system resources. It's
free. You also don't have to log onto somewhere with a Windows Live ID like
you did for OneCare.
What I hate: While all the other antiviruses in the world check for updates
and install them when you start the machine or on a user-defined schedule,
MSSE gets its definition updates through Windows Update. An obnoxious
"feature" of Win7 is that when you go to shut down, if there are available
Windows Updates (I have mine set to "download and inform me", not
automatic) you don't get the option of shutting down without installing
updates as you do in XP. What you get is a small orange shield next to the
Shutdown button and if you don't notice it because you're in a hurry to
shut down, before you know it you've got the "Installing updates, do not
turn off your machine" cr*p. (The way to get around this is to do
Ctrl-Alt-Del to start Task Manager and shut down from there IIRC.) I
understand that MS wants people to install updates but some of us are
grownups who prefer to make the decision to spend the time needed to
install updates instead of shutting down immediately all by ourselves.
Since I'm on the MSSE beta, I bugged it. The bug was closed as "by design".
So I think this is an annoying and stupid design.
What I can't answer: Whether it is any good or not. The effectiveness of an
antivirus can only be tested/proved in the wild. Since I don't use Windows
for much and I don't do risky computing anyway, I'm not the best tester for
the effectiveness aspect.
I don't know if I'll switch my clients from the free Avast I usually give
them to MSSE when it comes out of beta. I would never put a client or a
production machine at risk by installing a beta antivirus program.
Malke
