Microsoft Releases New Security Essentials Beta

Using it. Dig it. Lightweight, effective, free.

I think you need to mention that you just need a windows live/MSN account. Most will already have one.

I'll try it and see if it annoys me less than AVG.

Haven't tried the new Beta yet, but the one thing I Really, Really don't like about MS Security Essentials even though I've been using it the last 6 months or so is in the Settings under Default Actions, No Where does it give you the option to ASK FIRST!

Microsoft Security Essentials sounds like Military Intelligence or some other oxymoron

Does it fix the Shortcut hack?

Whoops spoke too soon.

i perfer malwarebytes

and if you pay you get an extra protection module and flash scan to scan your running processes
(of course i run a firewall as well but so should everyone)

it also has an option to block popups that can be disabled by simply right clicking it and clicking "website blocking"

I've been using Security Essentials since beta and it is amazing, it has blocked viruses/malware on several occasions and it is super lightweight and unintrusive. I don't ever have to touch it, good job MS. I don't see how you could improve the performance, but thats fine with me.

Their security software has still a lot of scope for improvement before it reaches the levels of good solutions like Kaspersky and Avira.

I've been using the security essentials for probably a year or so now. It seems to work pretty darn well for lightweight virus protection. It doesn't bombard me with messages or alerts either, like mcafee and norton would do.

I've noticed that MS keeps its definition's pretty up-to-date with semi-regular updates. No real complaints, you get what you pay for (or don't pay for in this case).

Im another user who used AVG free for many years, for the past 6 months my system has been clean as a whistle, or so i thought. After getting tired of the pop ups to upgrade to AVG pro i uninstalled and installed Microsoft Security Essentials and it found two viruses that AVG didnt. I no longer recommend anything but Microsoft and maybe Avira as free antivirus.

Excellent for a free AV, but still not on par with most non-free ones. Personally I'm a big fan of Norton 360. Not so long ago they made extremely bloated and resource-hogging suites, but now they have a really lightweight and excellent AV, and it comes with some other features like disk defrag, back-ups, web information etc.

I have been using WSE on my PC since April. Used to use Trend Micro but since this is free and uses minmal resources it is now my Preferred AV.

I thought MS giving away free software with Windows was illegal use of a monopoly to control the markets. I mean surely how can they get away with giving people free Anti Virus, after getting away with giving people a free web browser! They must be stopped before they bankrupt all those poor people who spend 40 hrs a week perfecting the Norton Pop-ups annoying timing!

It is light weight until it comes to scanning large install files. It starts "pegging" the CPU, even on the fastest systems. If this new version fixes that, I will be very happy. Other than the pegging issue, it is does a good job, isn't that annoying, and it detects when something bad tries to hit your system and deals with it.

I didn't use any AV until I installed the MS program.

Much less obtrusive than pretty much any other AV program I've used.

To the people saying "But if you pay for something its better..." - that's the point, this is free.

Microsoft did it right this time

i wouldnt say that paying for norton is better, id rather have a virus than have norton on my computer

LOL
Hey Mom my Swiss Cheese OS has something to stop viruses
Oops ohh well I got another virus.

I also used to use AVG 9 but I got feed up with the dead tabs in Internet explorer 8 and the clashes with Zone Alarm. What’s worse it no longer seems to be a very effective anti-virus program nowadays. I switched over to using the Microsoft anti-virus program several months ago and so far I have been impressed by it. It doesn’t slow your system down like Norton or MacAfee being light weight yet seemingly effective. It has a few features that I would liked changed a little bit it is still only a beta. I also use the Malwarebytes anti-virus program on other people’s computers which is very good at actually removing a virus if you become infected.

I question one thing with Microsoft's Security. Zune is not a trusted program.

i don't like paying for protection, but i have been forced to use norton and Ca's antivirus for years, was going to switch to NOD32, until i heard about MS finally putting something out to deal with their software gaps. i mean if this was a car or a house, and it starts leaking in the rain despite my windows and rooftop, that's very bad and in those situations with cars and houses, the builder and manufacturers get sued out the wazzoo for 2- 1000 times the cost they sold it for. software vendors should never have been sheilded from being sued for selling bad/buggy software.
i understand the problems with securing every program, but still if software is used in everything from controlling how your car stops to generating power with nuclear fission...do you really want to be put in harms way with out atleast some semblance of protection?
btw been using ms security esentials for the last 6 months, previous to 2010 i was using avg for a year. i must say security essentials is less taxing and a tad quicker, but there's less action controls, but a far superior detection compared to avg, it even goes after my no-cd/dvd patches and online activation hacks i have had since 123 dvd x-copy went the way of the dodo bird. found a way to put it on a friends tweaked media center edition machine and it goes after all the tweaks the guy did, which sucks, cuz he has a legal key right on the machine for it, he just doesn't want all the pre programmed general load junk with the normal disc install and have to edit or disable stuff after every hard disc wipe he does on a 6 month basis.
i like the fact microsoft is finally trying to correct their gigantic mistake tho i give them props for good effort finally after all these years of waiting!

I'd like to give it a shot someday, but for now ESET suffices for me.

Will try it after my kaspersky license expired..

I still think Avast! is a good antivirus as well, but definitely concur that AVG has gone downhill in a hurry. Currently using the original MS Security Essentials. I'm almost afraid to use the new one because the old one works so well.

I can't get to it

Funny that someone mentions Eset. I used to swear by them, but after scanning my system with MSSE and Malwarebytes, I was shocked by the amount of crap Eset missed.

MSSE works great so far. As long as it stays effective and lightweight, I have no need to use anything else.

I used to swear by ESET also, but they have gone downhill in the past year. I use MSE + Malwarebytes. They work very well together.