Works already in the x64 Beta of Windows 7. There may be bugs I haven't encountered yet, but so far flawlessly.
Well I guess I don't know that it's "working" as I may just be lucky and haven't needed it to block anything yet, but the software runs just fine.
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Securing the Windows 7 beta
Summary
Several leading security companies have products, at least in test form, that work with Microsoft's new operating system.
Topics
Despite the fact that security programs are often some of the toughest code to make work with a new operating system, Windows 7 already has several companies ready with products aimed at keeping it safe from attackers.
By comparison, only one antivirus firm--McAfee--had its security software commercially ready by the time Microsoft launched Vista for businesses in November 2006.
That said, it stands to reason, given that Microsoft was making far more dramatic changes to the operating system's underlying architecture in Vista than it is in Windows 7.
This time around, it is AVG, Kaspersky, and Symantec that have products that are being touted from Microsoft's site. McAfee said it will have support by the time Windows 7 launches, while Trend Micro is working to have a compatible product in the next month or so.
"It is great to see that these partners were able to have their solutions working so early in our development process," Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc said in a blog posting.
Dave Cole, a senior director of product management at Symantec, said his company decided to offer up a test version of its Norton 360 product for use with Windows 7, even though the company knows there are still a few things left to work out.
"We determined that we could run reasonably well under Windows 7," Cole said. "There are bugs that we know about, but we're comfortable enough with the effectiveness of the product that when they called us to participate we took them up on the offer."
Having the support lined up is important to Microsoft, which built an "action center" into the operating system that warns users if it detects there is no antivirus software installed. The action center then points to a page on Microsoft's Web site with links to Windows 7-compatible security software.
The page lists Kaspersky, AVG, and Norton, but adds that "Microsoft is actively working with additional security software independent software vendors (ISVs) so that security software solutions will be available for Windows 7 Beta and (the final release of) Windows 7."
As far as Windows 7's approach to security, it appears to draw heavily from the investments the company made with Windows Vista.
The most notable change is probably the fact that users now have the option to choose how often they are required to authorize changes to their system. One of the most frequent criticisms of Vista was the annoyance of the User Account Control dialog boxes that forced users to authenticate many types of changes to their systems.
Microsoft spent a fortune securing Vista, both in engineering new features as well as in testing. The software maker corralled a significant chunk of the world's penetration testers to help poke at Vista ahead of its release.
The software maker plans some penetration testing for Windows 7, but declined to say how much or whether it would be comparable to its Vista effort.
CNET News' Elinor Mills contributed to this report.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.
Talkback Most Recent of 6 Talkback(s)
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gnesterenko16th Jan 2009 -
BitTwiddler16th Jan 2009 -
avg8 works in beta
AVG 8 works with the Win7 Beta, no issues for me.
coffeeshark16th Jan 2009 -
It was the big name AV that failed Vista
I think these big name AV companies represent the very
bottom of the barrel - some of the least innovative
companies to produce good codes in the computer
industry.
I still remember when I first tried Vista Beta 2 (Beta
1 was mostly unusable), the first AV that ran stable
on
Beta 2 was Avast... If my memory still serves, it was
all these large AV companies (symantec, CA, McAfee..)
complained about the security changes in Vista.
Those smaller companies like Kaspersky actually said
they have no problem to work on Vista at all. Frankly,
I've lost all trust on these big name AVs nowadays.
(with the exception of AVG, which seems to getting
worst by each version) If you want to use a good AV,
please do your homework and look for something like
NOD32, Avast, or Antivir.
Samic16th Jan 2009 -
Ammalgam16th Jan 2009 -
Avira Antivir works completele fine..
I am testing one machine that has been upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 and another machine that has a clean install of Windows 7. Avira Antivir works flawlessly. Thanks Avira for making the perfect complement to Windows Defender in Avira Antivir Personal Free Edition.
iravgupta17th Jan 2009
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