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Microsoft Security Essentials public beta now available to download
You'll need to sign in with your Connect account or register for a new one to gain access to the download - for now. There will no doubt be hundreds of happy seeders sharing the Beta on torrent trackers later today.
Microsoft had originally slated only 75,000 spots for beta testers, though they have since announced that the number will be increased to accomodate demand. Interest will likely be high considering the generally positive reviews SE has generated since we first got our hands on it.
We've got a big gallery of screenshots of SE in action, including it detecting the trojan that I *ahem* intentionally left on my machine so I could test the program fully. I've been very happy so far with SE's level of protection and low impact on system performance.
Comments
15
Subscribe to commentssideffectsJun 23rd 2009 1:52PM
It's pretty good so far, especially for being a beta.
MalteserrJun 23rd 2009 2:05PM
Yeah, just installed it and it's working pretty well :)
iofthestormJun 23rd 2009 2:26PM
How is performance? I'm using Avast right now, and it's been much faster than commercial stuff like Norton and McAfee, but I'm guessing this might have even less impact on performance?
AlasdairJun 23rd 2009 2:52PM
Damn. You might want to add to this article that it is only available in the US, Israel, China, and Brazil - all of us lot here in Europe can't get it through Microsoft!
Time to hit the trackers methinks.
KyleJun 23rd 2009 3:16PM
Does this thing replace Windows Defender? Also, how does it do in the Win7 environment?
MalteserrJun 23rd 2009 3:22PM
Yes. It "turns off" Windows Defender, which probably means it combines the Anti-Malware and Antivirus into one program. Also, it's working pretty well in Windows 7 RC (7100).
Kenn.keeperJun 23rd 2009 4:04PM
I just installed it a bit ago and had one question for their forum, is the malware part effective enough not to have another spyware scanner. Answer was, make sure only one is running at a time realtime(in this case MS Essentials) and have the other one as an on demand secondary scanner. Since it is included into the Anti-Virus app it does not like others running, like having 2 Virus scanners.....
So far this program uses very little resources much to my amazment.
Free is Good
Kenn.....
shaunisadirtyJun 23rd 2009 5:35PM
Though I've never had problems with Virues or anything like that, I'm glad to see Microsoft is offering it for free and without any user intervention for those users who don't know what they're doing. It will help with many "problems" people think Windows has.
phezJun 23rd 2009 8:28PM
The EC won't be happy about this.
FNGJun 23rd 2009 10:52PM
I think you meant EU...
phezJun 24th 2009 4:10AM
European Commision ;)
FNGJun 24th 2009 11:32AM
and I would be wrong about what I thought! :)
Lee MathewsJun 23rd 2009 8:29PM
It's not bundled with anything, and there's no way Microsoft would try that with an AV program.
The EC shouldn't have any reason to get their panties in a bunch over SE.
davidJun 24th 2009 6:36AM
You can get around the location blocking by just downloading it through Connect.
bennardJun 24th 2009 8:35AM
Just got this message on the site:
Thank you for your interest in joining the Microsoft® Security Essentials Beta. We are not accepting additional participants at this time. Please check back at later a date for possible additional availability.