Microsoft Security Essentials Released today
Microsoft released to web (RTW) its Security Essentials product today… and it remains a free download.
The product is geared to replace Windows Live One Care and provides Anti-virus / Anti-Malware protection to the consumer market. This is great news for consumers and some road warrior IT Pros allowing them to get protection on their laptops without worrying about subscription costs.
Having participated in the beta of the product, I was quite impressed. It was the only security application I installed on my production Windows 7 laptop and I had no issues with it at all. It is a thin application with very little needed in the way of maintenance after installation (or at least it was in beta). The upgrade was smooth this morning and I have seen no issues to this point.
I will be recommending this product based on personal experience and cost in any scenario where it makes sense (too bad I bought a new subscription service recently for my inlaws).
Is it the best out there? At this time I am not sure… Microsoft’s application works well for me but it is not geared for enterprise environments, although that may come in the future with products like System Center Online Desktop Manager, which is beta right now.
As of now, I would go try out the application and kick the tires… might work well enough to save you a bit of money on security apps.
