I mentioned Morro in a recent post about fun with viruses and the beauty of the cloud, but as a UK resident I did not have access to the software. Well now Microsoft Security Essentials is available everywhere: it is a free, integrated engine for Antivirus, Antispyware and Antimalware.
First thoughts? Great stuff. Really. The first and most noticeable impact was on overall system performance. I am a Windows XP stuck in the mud, and now I have another reason for the status quo – my machine just got faster. Talking of the status quo:
feeling sentimental as i uninstall zonealarm for Security Essentials. you’ve protected me well, dear friend, but its time to move on
Essentials also immediately picked up what looked like a potentially ugly piece of malware- a “password catcher”. Sophos had missed it. Security on Windows has been a nightmare of administration as different tools clashed over resources. As I complained before:
I, for one, am fed up to the back teeth with the pathetic interoperability of security tools on desktops and laptops. I know I am not alone. Of course the AV vendors have to take a lot of responsibility here – if they worried more about user experience it would be easier to negotiate with them and get them to do the right thing.
Well the problem is now sorted out, for me at least. I have decided to embrace Microsoft’s warm embrace. I can’t vouch for Essentials as an enterprise tool, but first impressions for me – are good. Any time your machine becomes faster and apparently more secure you have to feel good about the change.
monkchips says:
October 1, 2009 at 11:30 am
James Governor’s Monkchips » Microsoft Security Essentials First Impressions http://bit.ly/OXKnE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Steve Loughran says:
October 1, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Would be nice if it ran on Windows Server2K3, which is what I’ve been using as my locked-down VM for outlook and powerpoint. The installer just tells me off.
haja_sheriff says:
October 1, 2009 at 3:31 pm
MS news: James Governor’s Monkchips » Microsoft Security Essentials First … http://bit.ly/oKsDJ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
haja_sheriff says:
October 1, 2009 at 5:15 pm
MS news: James Governor’s Monkchips » Microsoft Security Essentials First … http://bit.ly/Fp4Hh
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Ian says:
October 2, 2009 at 12:09 am
James, I’m intrigued that your machine became faster. Do you know why?
James Governor says:
October 2, 2009 at 9:26 am
the scanners in client security software tend to be quite memory intensive, so, particularly if you use a few tools from different suppliers, you can end up with lots of processes running and consuming resources that otherwise could be put to use running the workloads they’re supposed to!
Morro has one scanning engine that works across AV, AM and AS. it seems to be much less performance intensive than Zone Alarm.