A few months ago, Microsoft unveiled a new Beta software package called “Microsoft Security Essentials”. Up until now, Microsoft has had a package called Windows Live Onecare, that has performed a similar task for the home computer user. Onecare was a lot more involved, however, giving the added options of firewall, automated backup of data and a tuning toolkit for Windows. This package has since been discontinued, however MSE has been in beta for a while now. Finally, Microsoft has announced that their new MS Antivirus will be available this Tuesday for download by the general public.

Microsoft Security Essentials (also known as “Morro”) is basically an antivirus software that helps protect computers against trojans, spyware and other nasties. It has to date been rolled out to around 70,000 people for testing, and is apparently due fro release within the next few days. It is believed that the software has very little resource needs, which will make it the perfect antivirus solution for people with netbooks and older computers, however the microsoft antivirus software will need at least Windows XP to run properly.

The other software package that Windows users may be familiar with is Windows Defender. After installing Microsoft Security Essentials, it will disable Windows Defender as part of its setup routine. the reason for this is that MSE offers the spyware and adware protection that comes with Defender, as well as added protection against viruses and trojans, making Windows Defender obsolete. It is beleived that MSE will be available for free download towards the end of September. The installation procedure will run a check to ensure that the user has a validated version of Windows installed, and will automatically update virus definitions via Windows Update up to three times a day.


Because the software has been developed in house by Microsoft, it can link up with native Windows functionality such as System Restore. If the program finds a suspected virus, it will firstly ask the user what action they wish to take. Before the selected action is taken, Microsoft Security Essentials will create a restore point using System Restore.

Unfortunately there is going to be a lot of confusion surrounding this release, thanks to a particular virus that purports to do a similar job to Microsoft Security Essentials (that is, protect your computer against viruses), however, this program is itself a virus, and calls itself “MS Antivirus”. If you are interested in installing Microsofts new release, it is important that you do so from the official download location on Microsofts own website to ensure you are getting what you bargained for. To make it even worse, there are many different names that this malware goes by, including XP Antivirus, Antivirus Pro, Winweb Security 2008, AntiVirus 2009, and many many more. The malware will not cause any harmful damage to your computer, but after you are infected, you will receive continuous messages warning you that you have viruses on your computer, and recommending that you purchase and install software to get rid of it.

It is easy to forget just how many computer users out there blindly trust in the messages that they receive from their PC’s. If you start to receive popups of these sorts, then it is imperative that you get yourself a decent antivirus program, and by installing microsoft free antivirus package, you know that you are getting something that is trusted in the industry and will be constantly updated as new threats arrive. People that were lucky enough to sign up for the beta program last last year have reported nothing but good things about this package, claiming that it has an easy to use interface and is very low on system resource usage. The average full system scan performed by MSE takes about half and hour to forty five minutes, which is a lot less than some other antivirus software packages out there. Many people are saying that this is the best anti virus software you could install. If you have automatic updates turned off in Windows, you may want to check your settings after installing microsoft free antivirus software, as there have been reports of it changing these settings back to automatic after installation.