lol.. small foortrprint.
Care to share the glue you're sniffing.
Microsoft has released a new version of its freebie security scanner tool last week, following the conclusion of a five-month beta testing program. Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) 2.0 features a revamped heuristic (automatic malware detection) engine as well as the addition of network intrusion detection technology. Less …
MSE also detected two nasties that AVG did not detect.... which I was not happy to discover! password changes alround... don't think I'll be recomending AVG again. its insessant nagging to upgrade made me switch and I'm damn glad I did.
MSE has a few issues like not being able to opt out of sending data to MS (who thought google was evil! MS are the worst!) and not being able to specify a schedule for updates, but its less hassle than AVG's spamming and adverts.
there's a settings tab that allows you to say when you want it to run and what sort of scan (quick or full)
There's also an opt-in for "spynet" (no, not skynet) that determins how much information you want to share. When it finds a new program that's not been classified it asks me if I want to report details before doing anything (Google don't make anti-virus s/w but I wonder what they'd choose to report to the mothership!)
so... they stole a copy of the OS and then expect to get free protection from their fellow muppets?
Not sure why MS should give a rats arse about them until they buy a license?
Surprisingly my car insurance seem to consider it important that I have the paperwork to prove I bought the car they're insuring...
"Not sure why MS should give a rats arse about them"
Maybe because the more unlicensed Windows machines get infected the more licensed machines are at risk. Maybe because it would make them appear a little more socially responsible all round (like their work to shut down botnets) and Windows appear less vulnerable to malware.
I've changed AV software (free) multiple times now to get away from bloat.
I want my anti-virus to sit there quietly, and just stop me running any "bad code". I don't want it to take over my firewall (since I use an external linux one), I don't want it to prescan websites (since I'm unlikely to click on them, and it should protect me if I do anyway), and I certainly don't want it to require me to upgrade my hardware to keep the same performance.
Anyone know of a windows AV package that ISN'T going to go bloatware? :(
"I don't want it to prescan websites (since I'm unlikely to click on them, and it should protect me if I do anyway)"
While it's true it should protect you from "install this!" type websites, it won't however, protect you from true exploit pages that cram code down a buffer-overflow. This is why "pre-scanning" is important.
I'm certainly no fan of Microsoft - being sometimes slated as a Mac fanboi - but I honestly can't see what there is to moan aboat:
1) They're doing something about security
2) They're not charging for it
OK, so they're restricting it to legit installations - can't say I really blame them for that, but anything that helps to thwart the ungodly malware/virus producers has to be a good thing.
I just posted elsewhere about how good MSE is compared to the heavy-weight Zone Alarm, which I have ejected from my low-spec laptop as being unrunable.
I just hope that this is not going to be heading the same way.
As to license validation, it doesn't bother me, I'm registered and legal, but if MS *really* wanted to do something about the entire world of virus, malware, etc, which *their* systems have nurtured and made possible, they wouldn't be making that check.
So it's a fail --- on the basis of responsibility to the world.
I decided to go with no anti-virus at all on my own computer. I understand the risks but last time my computer was ruined by some software vendor who was supposed to protect me. I trust malware writers will take better care of my PC since they need a running bot in a stable, healthy condition.
Bloody hell - a Microsoft product that gets good word of mouth that isn't that stupid xbox Kinect thingy! Whatever next!
Also every-time I see "MSE antivirus" mentioned anywhere I always think "What, has Martian Lewis the tight fisted expert released his own free-ware antivirus or something" until I remember what MSE actually stands for!
"the slightly redesigned dashboard allows users to manage Microsoft's firewall from inside MSE" - er, not that I can see. It did ask if it could turn on Windows Firewall if one wasn't detected, but that's all.
In addition: it didn't need a validation, but that might be because I was upgrading rather than installing fresh.