Quotmicrosoft security essentials update#
Quotmicrosoft security essentials upgrade#
Quotmicrosoft security essentials software#
Quotmicrosoft security essentials download#

Not only do they warn you against having two antivirus programs running at the same time, I even found a post recommending against using something like Spybot on an on-demand basis! I was on their website the other day, and from the way the forum officials describe it, it looks like MSE is very aggressive about being in sole charge of the computer's security.

Quotmicrosoft security essentials upgrade#

Of course I want to put Spybot on it but I'm entitled to a free upgrade to Windows 7, and I want to ask if there is anything special I need to know or do about Spybot and Windows 7.Īlso, Microsoft is eliminating Windows Defender and replacing it with Microsoft Security Essentials.

Quotmicrosoft security essentials download#

And no one forces people to download Security Essentials they have to choose to download it.I'm waiting for my new laptop to arrive (I'll be using it to supplement my desktop PC, not to replace it) and in the meantime exploring the security measures I might put on it.

Quotmicrosoft security essentials software#

But allowing people to download free security software that works well is a good thing, not a bad thing. It's understandable that Trend Micro would not be happy about how Microsoft handles Security Essentials.

I've been using Microsoft Security Essentials since its first betas, and have always been impressed. The real point is this: It's a good thing for Microsoft to give people the option to download and use a free, solid and useful piece of security software that uses barely any memory. The exact mechanism by which Security Essentials is delivered is mere quibbling and beside the point, though. So users see that updates or software are available, without differentiating between which service is delivering it to them.

Quotmicrosoft security essentials update#

It's certainly true that most people don't know the difference between Microsoft Update and Windows Update, because Windows Vista and Windows 7, by default, use both services to look for updates and patches. So making Microsoft Security Essentials available via the Microsoft Update service is the right thing to do. Microsoft Update was designed to deliver patches for optional software, not necessarily for Windows. The Microsoft Update service isn't the same thing as Windows Update, which delivers important patches and software for Windows itself. It's not being delivered via Windows Update, but via the Microsoft Update service, the same service that, in the words of Gregg Keizer 'also offers patches for new versions of non-operating system software, notably Office and Windows Media Player.' Windows Update is not a choice for users, and we believe it should not be used this way.'įirst off, Carpenter isn't quite right about how Microsoft Security Essentials is being made available as a download.

Windows Update is a de facto extension of Windows, so to begin delivering software tied to updates has us concerned. He quotes Carol Carpenter, the general manager of the consumer and small business group at Trend Micro as saying: 'Commercializing Windows Update to distribute other software applications raises significant questions about unfair competition. Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports that security vendor Trend Micro claims this is anticompetitive behavior. Microsoft recently began making Security Essentials available as a free download through the Microsoft Update service.

Given that Microsoft makes no money from Security Essentials, though, this is good news for consumers, who can now more easily get a solid security program without paying a penny. Anti-malware maker Trend Micro has been complaining that Microsoft is delivering the free Security Essentials program via the Microsoft Update service, calling the move anti-competitive.