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Microsoft Security Essentials rated best free antivirus software
November 1, 2009
by Dave Parrack
Microsoft Security Essentials rated best free antivirus softwareWhen Microsoft announced Microsoft Security Essentials, its new free antivirus software designed to replace Windows Live OneCare, it was treated with contempt by the vendors of both other free antivirus software and the paid-for security suites. But a recent testing of the most popular antivirus products placed MSE on a par with the paid-for products and above its free competitors.
A free antivirus product from Microsoft was touted for a year before it finally appeared. Originally codenamed Morro, MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) was officially announced in June 2009. After a brief period of public beta testing, in which the product gained a resoundingly positive reception, it was finally released as a full product late September.
A couple of weeks later came evidence that MSE had already proved its worth, with 2.6 million people having downloaded the product and it making four million infection detections in the first week. And it isn’t just users who are impressed with the software Microsoft is offering, with a new study into the effectiveness of several antivirus products rating MSE very highly.
According to Ars Technica, AV-Comparatives tested 16 security products, both free and paid-for. The test focused on the malware removal/cleaning capabilities of the products rather than the detection and prevention capabilities.
Antivirus Results
The results, as seen above, were divided into ‘Removal of malware’ and ‘Removal of leftovers’, with the antivirus software then giving a rating based on their performance in the test.
Symantec, eScan, and Microsoft Security Essentials were the only products to get Good ratings in both categories. And those three, along with F-Secure, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender were awarded Advanced+ ratings. ESET, Sophos, AVG, McAfee, Avast, AVIRA, and Trustport were rated Advanced; Norman, and G DATA were rated as Standard; Kingsoft was Tested.
This is a great result for Microsoft because it puts MSE on a par with the best paid-for products and ahead of both paid-for and free alternatives.
Microsoft Security Essentials is still not perfect but it’s clearly a solid product that will do as good or better a job at protecting your system as a host of other security suites. Meanwhile, the beta testing program continues, with new builds continually being sent out. So Microsoft is continually looking to improve the product to keep Windows-based PCs healthy and working.
Maybe it is worth a try?
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Very interesting. This will certainly put a dint in the profits of a few security companies if it takes off.
Just a note that it will validate your windows installation during install. I am using Vista Black and it passed. If your version doesnt , I dont know if you may start having issues with your probaly not legal version of windows.
If your Windows is not "Valid" MSE won't install, It gives you the option to get a "Genuine" copy.
As to any future problems any pirate user may have as a result of allowing Validation to take place...
I'll let you know!.
There was a review in the latest PC/USER December 09
Antivirus Detection
Microsoft Security Essentials 98.44%
BitDefender 99.34%
Norton 99.75%
Adware/Spyware
Microsoft Security Essentials 90.95%
BitDefender 97.99%
Norton 99.14%
% = effectiveness
For a free product probably a good install for those folk who love to pay the minimum for their Pc Then turn around and whinge because its no good because they were to tight to put an Antivirus package on
Banned
if nod ends up being a pain in the but (windows 7) i am going to try this.
If you feed ducks at a pond, chances are your bound to feed a goose or two without even knowing it.
Microsoft Security Essentials is certainly better than nothing, and superior to some products out there. But if you look closely, the AV-Comparatives test only compared the cleanup effectiveness for a small sample of ten hand-picked non-destructive malwares. The test says nothing about malware detection rate, false positive rate or scanning speed.
What's more, the Ars Technica writeup (cited by Vista.Blorge) recategorises the findings of AV-Comparatives in a way that makes Microsoft Security Essentials appear more elite than the original test report did: "Symantec, eScan, and Microsoft Security Essentials were the only products to get Good ratings in both categories." Though technically correct, that's just how they chose to slice and dice it. Here's the original test report summary:Not quite so eye-catching is it? But when you're trying to get ad revenue from your website or blog it's no surprise you'll look for sexy angles like "free product is as good or better than any commercial one".
- Advanced+: eScan, Symantec, Microsoft, F-Secure, Kaspersky, Bitdefender
- Advanced: ESET, Sophos, AVG, McAfee, Avast, AVIRA, Trustport
- Standard: Norman, G DATA
- Tested: Kingsoft
For a more balanced judgement you need to also read reviews that test effectiveness against a much larger sample of malware, that analyse false positives, and other real-world considerations like speed and susceptibility to being crippled by preexisting infection. In those reviews the results for Microsoft are less glowing, eg which found MSE was quite good but not as fast as advertised, didn't clean up as thoroughly as the other review suggested, and was "dismal" with commercial keyloggers.
Bottom line: MSE is only new but as free products go it's good. It's reasonably effective and integrates well, causing fewer problems with other applications than some AV products. If all you're using at present is a freebie (like AVG Free) then MSE is well worth trying. But watch that it doesn't mess with your auto-update settings: you don't want to get infected by Windows.Genuine!
And remember the general rule: don't install more than one antivirus product at once. Otherwise, chances are, they'll fight and your PC will slow to a crawl. If changing AV products it's good practice to uninstall the first one, reboot, then install the new one.
Last edited by gw1; 12-11-09 at 08:51 AM.
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