All About Microsoft

Mary-Jo Foley

Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

By Mary Jo Foley | September 28, 2009, 1:06pm PDT

Just over a week after telling beta testers that the final version of Microsoft’s free Security Essentials antimalware product would be released soon, Microsoft is set to deliver the final bits to the public.

I’ve seen a couple of unsourced reports about the final MSE (codenamed “Morro”) bits going live on September 29, which is tomorrow. But this tweet from Network World Editor John Fontana sealed it:

I’ve asked Microsoft for an official confirmation but haven’t heard back from anyone. (Muglia is about as official as it gets, though….)

Update: Microsoft is now confirming MSE will ship on September 29. From a spokesperson: “I can confirm that Microsoft Security Essentials, the company’s highly anticipated no cost consumer security offering, will be released to the public tomorrow, September 29th.” It will be available in 19 markets worldwide, according to the company. The final build no. is 1611 and it is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials.

MSE is the replacement for Windows Live OneCare and a superset of Windows Defender. Microsoft officials have said it will work on Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and Windows 7. More than 400,000 testers are believed to have downloaded the test version of MSE.

Microsoft is targeting MSE at customers who are unwilling and unable to pay for security software. Company officials have said they believed it was worth offering customers a free product to help thwart security breaches on unprotected Windows PCs that potentially could be used to infect other users’ systems.

On September 29, Microsoft also is holding a Webcast where CEO Steve Ballmer is planning to detail how Microsoft customers can, with less, do more. It’s part of the company’s “New Efficiency” enterprise-focused campaign and is slated to touch on a host of soon-to-be-shipping Microsoft products, including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010, Forefront, System Center and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.

Microsoft is planning to deliver in early 2010 a new version of its Forefront client, its paid desktop security product, that competes with/complements MSE. The company is stepping up its message that Windows 7 will offer more than just consumer-focused features (which has been Microsoft marketing’s main focus to date).

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Microsoft Corp., MSE, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows 7, Operating Systems, Security, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

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Do we really need another security software on Windows 7?

rogerlebo 28th Sep 2009

Hi!

If I install MSE on Windows 7, do I really need to install another security software on Windows 7?

Thanks!

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yes...

Linux Geek 28th Sep 2009

It's called Linux and that will cure all windoze security threats forever.

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Yes and...

Joe_Raby 28th Sep 2009

while introducing 8 year old kernel faults on its own.

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Awwww...he said "Windoze". Ain't that adorable!

mgp3 28th Sep 2009

You almost hate to see them grow up.

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Do they?

Joe_Raby 28th Sep 2009

No.

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No, but yes

Joe_Raby 28th Sep 2009

MSE is for consumers.

Microsoft makes Forefront Client Security (soon to be Forefront Endpoint Security) for businesses. The cost is listed at $12.72/PC/yr, but requires a 3 year volume license agreement with a minimum of 5 PC licenses (they don't all have to be for Forefront though).

Businesses won't get any support if they install MSE.

I don't know what kind of support consumers will get with MSE. I'm guessing forum access, but I don't know if they'll get phone and email support from Microsoft. MJ, maybe you can elaborate?

If a customer doesn't want Microsoft's solution, there are other security solutions available from other companies with different functionality and levels of security (depending on quality of engine, features, and definitions). You get a choice. Microsoft's option for consumers is one of the best though, especially over other free offerings like AVG and Avast, which scored horribly bad on the May 2009 AV-Comparatives report. OneCare scored #2 in real detections, and lowest count of false detections, and it has the same engine and defs as MSE and FCS. Microsoft Spynet will collect results of scans and detections that Microsoft can analyze and produce better and better definitions too. Most companies do this already, and Spynet is a leftover from Giant Antispyware which Microsoft bought to make Windows Defender (long before OneCare).

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I don't agree

cbodendein 28th Sep 2009

I have not seen the same results. In AV-Comparatives most recent tests, AVG, avast!, and AVIRA have all scored better than Microsoft OneCare. True that OneCare has few false positives, but AVIRA had a 99.4% detection rate, avast! at 98%, and AVG at 94% while OneCare has 90%.

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You should read what I wrote

Joe_Raby Updated - 28th Sep 2009

I said in the MAY 2009 comparative (pro-active/retrospective), Microsoft is #2 for true detections (with GData Antivirus, below only Avira), least for false positives (in a class by itself).

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_report22.pdf

Edit:

You should honestly check which test you're comparing. The most recent proactive test that I quoted is the one tha blocks viruses from getting into the computer. What you compared it to is the on-demand scan test, which is the full drive test. If a virus is allowed to be saved to the hard drive without the active scanner picking it up, the active scanner isn't working correctly and the antivirus software has failed its job. Microsoft clearly hasn't let this happen though because the proactive test proves that. Avast and AVG will let viruses get saved to the drive, according to the proactive scan tests. That's just plain bad design. I'd rather have a scanner that can pick up stuff in realtime, and that's exactly what OneCare/MSE/FCS does.

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That's great protection

faxmonkey 29th Sep 2009

I don't think my prophylactic is that effective.

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Would you rather

Joe_Raby 30th Sep 2009

wear a prophylactic for protection, or try to cure AIDS after you've already been infected?

MSE is a prophylactic. AVG is the post-infection "cure".

Which one is more effective?

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Take with a grain of salt

Ocean2Blue 30th Sep 2009

...haved used paid MS One Care for more than one year ...currently on extended 6 month pro bono after MS announced end of commercial version ...in this time MS One Care advised me of ONE trojan/virus-like event
After a few months of slow and aberrant PC behavior ...I started to experiment with MalwareBytes, IOBit 360, Yahoo CA, and finally most recently AVIRA ...MBytes & 360 finding smaller trojans installed, and BOTH YCA & Avira found 2 to 3 serious infections (Installed) ...AND I am still certain there is still another in there not found by either
...so do your OWN research before taking as gospel anything ANYONE states ...because the bad-guys are way ahead in this Game
...I will keep MS One Care as main AV because I feel MS should understand Windows (Vista) better than anyone ...but will also keep IoBit 360, CA and Avira (and any others that get a good rep) to find those infections the OTHER Can Not

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can't remember the names of those "serious infections", right? (nt)

rtk 30th Sep 2009

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no

jgoto 28th Sep 2009

MSE and Defender (which comes with Win7) is all you really need. You do not need additional anti-virus protection. Its actually a bad idea because AV software is notorious for not playing nicely with each other and having two on one system will cause all kinds of problems.

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Will they pull Defender from downloads for XP?

Joe_Raby 28th Sep 2009

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MSE is Fantastic!

GoodThings2Life 28th Sep 2009

It's lightweight. It's easy to use. It's fast as all get out and doesn't bog my system down the way that other security programs do. It uses the same antivirus engine and definitions as OneCare which is ranked as TIED for #1 by several top Antivirus Security sites for a couple years now (despite a rocky start early on).

Can you trust it? Absolutely... almost shockingly, but absolutely. There are still people at Microsoft who "get it" right.

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Can't wait to start using this

bobiroc 28th Sep 2009

for the customers that I do side jobs for that have expired security software or no security software at all. In fact I may hold on to the two computers I have in my office for another couple days just so I can install it for them.

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This will work with XP right

bobiroc 28th Sep 2009

I am pretty sure I read that it will. I am going to look for that right now but I hope it does. Got a couple computers here I reformatted because they browsed a bit carelessly without security software and got infected. One from limewire and the other..well lets just say that the husband liked his porn. I was just going to install Avast or AVG but I think MSE would be a better option.

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MSE is a good option

Joe_Raby 28th Sep 2009

Not downloading from Limewire is a better one.

Current viral infection rates show Limewire's network of shared MP3's to be infected with variants of Wimad at a rate of approximately 78%, and new variants come up every day. I know - I clean customer systems daily, and Wimad is brutal! Every day that they update MSE, there are always new detections added. Koobface is a common one too (usually from a program called "Qoobox").

MSE will work on XP, Vista, and Windows 7 PC's, but it checks to make sure they are genuine licenses. Cracked or pirated copies will be prevented from installing MSE. It uses WGA, but there is no further registration, activation, or information collection beyond scan results (it has Microsoft Spynet support for collection results on spyware - NOT to spy on you - and it shows up in the options).

In a business environment, you're not licensed to use MSE though. FCS is your option, but it's still pretty cheap even if it isn't free.

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Where are you getting your information?

wolf_z 28th Sep 2009

As far as I know there's no prohibition on using MSE in a business. What you *don't* get is central administration, and from what I've seen you have to update via Windows update instead of WSUS, but for many small and mid-sized businesses that's not a problem.

For SMEs and above Forefront is probably a better idea though.

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Where am I getting my information?

Joe_Raby 29th Sep 2009

The Connect page where the beta was available.

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Official license information from the EULA

Joe_Raby 29th Sep 2009

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/eula.aspx#mainNav

"INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.
Use. You may install and use any number of copies of the software on your devices in your household for use by people who reside there or for use in your home-based small business. "

So no, commercial retail businesses that are not home-based businesses aren't allowed to use this. They have to spend the money to buy FCS.

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

techfix 28th Sep 2009

I have been using the beta version of MSE on Vista & 7 and I think its great. Light, fast with no annoying popups and best of all free. Looking forward to installing the final version.

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Message has been deleted.

rag@... Updated - 29th Sep 2009

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Great news...

crazydanr@... 28th Sep 2009

For all of us working on friends and families PCs. The trial Norton / Mcafee software suites did nothing but confuse people (But I thought I had Norton installed allready? What's a DAT update?). Honestly, the crapware they included caused as many problems as they fixed.

With all the bad press about security MS has gotten in the past two years, free anti-malware and anti-virus for home users was long overdue. There are a lot of technolgically inept people out there, and if this can reduce the problems they experience, it will do a lot to improve the brand.

They should have released this product years ago, before they gained such a bad rap for weak security!

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I think they wanted to

bobiroc 28th Sep 2009

but you know if they did companies like Symantec and McAfee would have cried Anti-Trust. Now that there are plenty of free Suites out there and Malware has gotten out of hand they have a good case in releasing a product to protect their OS. The only caveat is that they cannot bundle it with the OS so it is moved up to the internet to be downloaded like other Free Microsoft programs.

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

patchman 28th Sep 2009

Very positive article/review:

http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/mse.asp

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Ok Where Can I download

bobiroc 29th Sep 2009

OK OK I am impatient but is it available for public download yet? happy

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

rsriram22@... 29th Sep 2009

How does this compare to other veterans in market (eg., free avg/webroot etc).. Especially given that it is 'free' (Does it not include some features like antirootkits etc)

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Compare as in features?

bobiroc 29th Sep 2009

MSE does include rootkit protection. From what I have seen it is on par with other free solutions and some paid solutions.

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

rsriram22@... 29th Sep 2009

10:19 AM EST ... The security essentials home page (www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/) seems to be down so that the production version can be put up.( i guess..)

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Its now available !!!!

rsriram22@... 29th Sep 2009

at www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

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Should we uninstall MS One Care ?

Ocean2Blue 30th Sep 2009

I still have whats left (5 months) of my MS One Care commercial version ...Is S_E an upgrade (better product) over One Care ? ...should I uninstall One Care, and replace with Security_Essentials ?

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Yes.

de-void-21165590650301806002836337787023 2nd Oct 2009

SE is the successor to OneCare ... in every way.

MS learned A LOT about malware scanning from OneCare and Defender. That was all fed into the project to build the successor scan engine under Forefront and SE.

So SE and Forefront now use the same scanning engine. Forefront just adds a number of management features and tools for enterprises.

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

thewhitewolfe@... 29th Sep 2009

Look at one main thing for any one using XP it does not say XP sp3 and if you have your updates already installed or auto update then it does not work and sp3 was a pushed update so another try at getting people to stop using XP and make the move to Vista OR 7
"Microsoft officials have said it will work on Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and WIndows 7"

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MSE & XP SP3

Joe_Raby 29th Sep 2009

MSE requires XP SP2 because it requires Security Center. If you manually go to Windows Update, XP SP3 is offered there, but you don't have to install it yet because SP2 is still supported.

When support is no longer offered for SP2, SP3 will be a forced automatic update. When that happens, you will have to get SP3 before any hotfixes are offered because those hotfixes will only be tested for installation on SP3. This is the way Microsoft has done Service Pack updates for years now.

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

rod6047@... 29th Sep 2009

where do i get a vista 64 bit version

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If you download from the official site

Joe_Raby 30th Sep 2009

...it will offer the version for your operating system. Otherwise, click the "Other locales and languages" option for access to all 3 downloads.

Vista and 7 are supported by a single download for each bit-depth, one for 32-bit, one for 64-bit. XP is supported by a separate download, and only on 32-bit.

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Not a bad choice.....

rhonin 29th Sep 2009

I run BitDefender on my home systems and with the purchase of a couple of Netbooks started looking for alternatives.

Chose two: Panda Cloud and MSE

Cloud is running on a Dell 10 with XP3. It does everything you could ask and has a very low overhead..... not bad.

MSE is running on a Lenovo S10-2 w/ Win7. Small footprint and hassle free.

I have been running both for a couple of months, visiting the same stuff I do on my standard systems, the same places my kids venture and the points my wife views...

End of the day MSE has proven very effective at being a no frills, low maintenance low complexity app. A far cry from what I needed to do to get BitDefender where I wanted it.

For the serious user who ventures in all manner of places I would stick with a system like BD...

For the general user who is not tech savy or does not want to be bothered by alerts / updates / changes / setting stuff up MSE is a great alternative. Matter of fact I will swap my long distance relations (for whom I am IT support) to MSE next oppotunity.

A nice one from MS....

Now back to playing with Panda Cloud.....

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RE: Report: Final version of free Microsoft Security Essentials to ship September 29

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