If you’re a small business (or ministry / non-profit) this might be a great thing to check out.
Recently Microsoft announced that they would let up to 10 computers in a small business download their security center software:
Microsoft Security Essentials is a no-cost antimalware service that provides real-time protection to address the ongoing security needs of genuine Windows PCs, helping to protect from viruses, spyware and other malicious threats.
If you’re a small ministry this might be all that you would need.
You can download it and get started right here.
[HT: Andrew]
I’d love to hear from people who are using it what their experience is. Good, bad, and the ugly!
Kevin says
I was impressed when I first tried this out back in the Beta days…it works very well and has kept my household computers virus free since then…In some cases I think your browser is more important than you AV software though.
Mike says
Been using it a while on my windows computers. I also have put it on several computers for my extended family. It has worked great and nothing has slipped through so far. It seems to be very lightweight as well. Norton and McAfee are resource hogs.
John says
I use and highly recommend Ms Security Essentials to everyone I know who has a Windows computer. Who better to protect your OS for a viru than the OS manufacturer?
It’s lightweight and stays out of the way unlike offerings from other companies.
BenJPickett says
Been using it on one of my home computers for awhile now and I’ve got to say that I’m impressed. It doesn’t have the smallest footprint but still comes in much lower than premium paid offerings from the likes of Norton and McAfee. The quick scan is just that, very quick but only scans common areas. The full scan takes awhile but does a great job at scanning archives and deep directories.
I have seen computers get infected while running MSE and I have also seen it block several viruses from running. Those that did get to infect the computer were quarantined and cleaned without ever having to run a scan.
Bottom line on this one is it’s a solid contender in the ring of security solutions keeping in mind that none of them are perfect. You can’t beat the price, the performance is solid and it has all of the features you should expect from a complete solution (omitting directories, files and specified extensions, scan removable media before use, full reporting, customizable default actions and plenty more).
Brian N says
This is welcome news. Even free offerings from products like Avast! are technically not allowed on business PCs, so this seems like a significant announcement to me. Given the good reviews I’ve seen since this product was in beta, this is going to be a top recommendation when I talk to small businesses about their security.
Stephen Peterson says
Maybe I’m mistaken, but I think the license agreement only allows it for home/personal use.
John Saddington says
it said small business i believe.