Microsoft Security Essentials, the free anti-malware (ie. antivirus and antispyware) solution from Microsoft was unleashed a couple of days ago, after a short period in beta testing. Initial reports from the arstechnica website is mainly positive – the installation program is small, it installs easily, and is unobtrusive, yet still highly configurable for advanced users. Updates happen transparently in the background and the user is never disturbed until an action is required.
Microsoft Security Essentials runs on Windows XP, Vista and 7. You need to pass Windows Genuine Advantage validation to be able to enjoy the realtime protection aspects of the software, otherwise you can install it, but there’s no realtime protection feature. ”Realtime” protection is where the software would actively scan things you download, sites you surf to ensure the site does not have any malicious code, etc.
Download Microsoft Security Essentials here. It’s only a 4.6Mb download for Vista – really small!
