What is it? Free antivirus and anti-malware
Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 32bit and 64bit
File size: 9.45 MB
Download times – about 50 minutes on dialup – a few seconds on broadband connections.
If you’ve been reading our newsletters for a few years, you know we’re not too fond of the things going on at Microsoft. We think they’re destined for the hall of has-beens…the grand hall of used-to-be’s. We keep hoping they’ll show signs of waking up and smelling the coffee – but Microsoft slumbers on. Well it’s true – for the most part.
Microsoft tried once before to introduce a security program – and actually charged money for it. Not only wasn’t it worth the money – it wasn’t even worth free – they couldn’t even give it away. So when Microsoft Security Essentials was released we weren’t too anxious to try it. But we have to tell you, Microsoft Security Essentials – hereinafter referred to as MSE, is the very best free anti-virus program you can install on your computer.
And the best just got better. The latest version of MSE is still as lightweight and easy on your resources as the first version but it adds more layers of protection. And it’s anti-spyware/anti-malware component is slightly improved too.
MSE anti-virus component is ranked with the very best – the ones you have to pay for – only MSE is free. Version two adds extra security layers including protection from suspicious network activity – which goes beyond the protection Windows firewall affords.
We have been reluctant to throw our support behind anything Microsoft these days, but we have to commend the Microsoft team that put together MSE. It’s the best we’ve ever used. An anti-virus program should run in the background silently. You shouldn’t even know it’s running until it kicks into action – and when it kicks into action it needs to do its job and go back to quietly running in the background.
It’s better than Avast, better than AntiVir and far better than AVG. It’s the best anti-virus protection money can’t buy — it’s 100% free. We’ve made the switch to MSE because it’s just what an anti-virus should be. And it plays nicely with SUPERAntiSpyware – which is our #1 choice for anti-spyware and anti-malware protection.
It would be hard to find better protection for your computer than the combination of MSE version 2 and SUPERAntiSpyware Professional. MSE’s only weak spot is its antispyware component – while the antispyware component in version 2 is better than version 1, it’s still not close to the best antispyware products available – for instance SUPERAntiSpyware. That being said, it’s anti-virus is second to none and for this reason (and that’s reason enough) we’re making MSE our freeware pick of the week.
If you’re fed up with your current antivirus program – or you’re still paying McAfee, Norton or any of the others a yearly fee, you owe it to yourself to give MSE version 2 a try. It’s the best all around antivirus program we’ve ever used – and we’ve used a lot of them.
You can learn more about Microsoft Security Essentials or download it (free) by visiting this URL. Rarely do we ever name a Microsoft product as our freeware pick of the week, but Microsoft Security Essentials deserves its place among the best of the freeware picks ever featured in this newsletter.
For those using MSE version one, upgrading is simple. Visit this page and download version 2. When you install it, it will auto detect your current version and upgrade it to version 2.
Do you have a suggestion for a future Freeware Pick? Let us know!