![]() MSE is therefore pretty restricted in this regard, with only the core features included – which isn’t bad actually, it’s just the way freeware is. FeaturesĪffluence of features is not one of the things you would expect to see in free antivirus software. Generally, Microsoft Security Essentials is splendid from the average user’s perspective: it’s feather-light on the system, unobtrusive, and very simple usage-wise. The only irritator that we took note of is the time span for full scan to complete – this benchmark is pretty bad here as scanning takes overly long, while quick scan won’t take much time at all. MSE turned out to be light on system resources in our test the same is confirmed by independent third-party evaluations. ![]() The Update menu lets you manage and keep track of the product signature updates the History window enables handling quarantined items and configuring what’s allowed to run on your PC and Settings page contains task scheduling, real-time protection, and MAPS (Microsoft Active Protection Service) options, and makes it easy to set exclusions for certain types of files and processes to be disregarded during scans. Without having to navigate away from this screen, you can start system scan after picking scan options (Quick, Full, or Custom) in the right-hand part of it. The main window informs users of their up-to-the-minute general security statistics, including real-time protection status and spyware definitions validity. Composed of just 4 menu buttons (Home, Update, History, and Settings), it allows exploring what’s inside in a matter of minutes. There’s no abundance of graphics in it, however it appears to be balanced in every way, coming down to the essentials of virus protection and hence completely justifying its name. The user interface is ultimately clean and streamlined. Incidentally, this utility runs on Windows XP, Vista and 7, but won’t work on Windows 8 because the latter is bundled with antivirus component of its own. One more technicality you need to go through during installation is Windows OS validation, which means you can only run MSE on a genuine copy of the operating system. Once executed, the 10.6 MB installer file triggers the setup process which follows the pattern of overall simplicity as well: you get a few standard screens, some of them containing options such as activating your Windows firewall (in case it’s not running for the moment), or joining the Customer Experience Improvement Program. Microsoft traditionally being on the customers’ side when it comes to user experience, Security Essentials was made extremely straightforward in both installation and customization, not to mention the ease of utilizing virus protection proper. Shall we see how efficiently Microsoft managed to implement their immense software development proficiency while making one of the world’s most popular Windows security apps? And yet, there is barely any other tool that compares to MSE in the free AV software niche. So, with this application running on your machine, it’s not too easy to predict what happens when it is confronted with security hazards. What is more, cleaning a malware-infested system with Microsoft Security Essentials might be only a partially effective endeavor because it isn’t stable at eliminating even the threats it found. ![]() Let’s not forget it’s freeware though, hence some typical drawbacks: while detection rate of widespread and prevalent malware is decent (90% according to AV-TEST), possible 0-day infections are likely to be missed as the solution fails to even come close to the industry average on that one. Furthermore, the amazingly simple controls make the product perfectly understandable in terms of all usability benchmarks. Microsoft managed to hit the nail on the head achieving the bulk of this mission: MSE came out fairly tough on viruses and spyware due to intelligent real-time protection supported by one of the most extensive virus definition databases out there. Security Essentials was made to be an easy-to-use and effective product requiring no special user expertise and consuming a minimum of system resources. In the long run, this went way beyond a mere response to the negative feedback as the program turned out a success, growing into the most popular antivirus in North America, and one of the prevalent AV tools worldwide within its 4-year lifetime – an attainment not many counterparts can boast. Considering the criticism based on multiple reported security flaws of the operating system prior to the launch of this software, incentives for its advent are obvious: Microsoft was seeking ways to compensate for such allegations. Microsoft Security Essentials was introduced in 2008 as a free antivirus solution maintaining adequate protection for workstations running Windows.
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