Its out of beta and available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/Security_essentials/

Haven't tried it, but will later.

Have been running it on an old XP pc I have and I like it.

The first scan I did (quick scan) it took quite a while, but after that only takes a couple of minutes for a scan.

Of course some people won't like it but that happens with any software.

They recommend you have 1GB of RAM for the AV in the System Requirements. IMO that's way too much RAM for an AV to be requiring. From the Beta though, it didn't use that much memory, and it looked like a pretty solid AV to me. Might test it out soon.

That doesn't mean it uses all that ram, just that you shouldn't use it if your system has less. It only works on xp and up and you shouldn't be running less than 1gig on xp anyway...

Bet there are plenty of folk who are running xp on 512mb

Doesn't change the fact that they shouldn't be.
If your computer has ddr2 ram you can double your ram for $10. It will be a noticeable upgrade in performance when your running multiple programs.
If your computer is using ddr ram, then let it be and upgrade the computer once it dies.

Whats the verdict then? Am i alone in always trying to stay clear of as many m$ products as i can?

Going to check around a bit. More interested in what it conflicts with than anything else.

edit. after a quick look:
Reviewers seem to like but are being cautious.
just installed it ran a quick scan, 9 minutes, and a selective scan.
Looks pretty good, configurable, offers options to remove, quarantine, or restore for found threats.
No reboot required, so can be tested under returnil or powershadow. edit: well, reboot required to upgrade.
No conflicts with preinstalled avast, spywareguard, spywareblaster, or spybot.
But I wouldn't run it concurrent with avast unless one of the spyware moderators on here said that is OK.

realtime protection found a double zipped eicar test file and a zipped rootkit when I tried to copy them.
Selective scan found both, also.

Looks pretty good here, so far.

Going to run a full scan now, then reboot out of powershadow.
If I don't come back, send a big dog with a flask.

Edit #2: didn't run the full scan, had to quit, so don't know how long. For me the best news is that it will install, run, scan, and find under Returnil or PS.

Well to give you guys my final verdict on MSE after testing it out today: It's a great AV! (That was unexpected. ).

Tested it out today, and here's my results in a nutshell.

1. Scans very quick, but the first scan takes a little bit longer, but after that it takes less time.

2. Seems to be very good at catching viruses. Caught all of the EICAR test viruses and other test viruses from other AV testing sites.

3. User interface is great. Very clean and refreshing.

4. No reboot required after installing.

5. Seems to be better than my NOD32 (definitely uses less memory, it seems just as good as NOD32, and it's FREE!).

I'll be keeping this one on my computer for a while, and I'll give you guys more information about how it preforms after some more testing.

Also, one more thing to add to this post; even though it says 1GB of RAM is recommended, right now for me it's using only about 20k memory!

I have a genuine installation of Windows XP Pro and even this first ever public release version won't install, just like the beta wouldn't. Still a happy Avast user though!

yeaah..sticking with my best 3 >Avira|GData|Avast Pro

I think MSE may end up being one of those top free ones abu.

I tried this.
I don't know how effective it is(obviously) but it runs nicely. Not bloated, nice interface, spyware & virus, free. Sounds like they may have a winner if its good at preventing/cleaning infections.

A little bit of info on ability here

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityf...softs_free.html

I just wish it would install on my system. Perhaps after the next format and complete reinstall of XP it will, but I won't do that just to try out one software title so it will have to wait.

After the quick check, I checked on the "Upgrade" box. Turns out you do have to reboot after that. Also, not sure yet, but seems like it slows down other operations a bit. sooooo, waiting.

All resident AV's do to some degree. Although most will have a very difficult time being as light and airy on a system with good specs as Avast and AntiVir run.

Of course put even Avast and AntiVir on a lower spec machine and it will run even slower.

I'm plesently suprised.

Yes, they do. Maybe the slowdown was because I actually had Avast and mse going at the same time.

Just have logged in to the forum over there, want to see what the users are saying. The app still looks pretty good.

Boy do those microsoft guys know how to write a EULA/contract/terms of use document.

Then use the EULA Alyzer on it
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/eulalyzer.html (free for personal use)

Hi -
I found it had a minor conflict with my Avira (when both were active) - So I disabled Avira temporarilly and found it ran well -
I think it is meant to be a 'stand alone' AV once you read the EULA - (Very comprehensive text, as usual for M/soft) -

There seems to be a bit of confusion as to whether it can be run along side another av.

Welcome to the forum by the way

it looks crappy, i also hate how with almost every new computer they pre-install norton or mcafee for 30 days, talk about a waste of my time, uninstalling so much stuff when getting a new computer

I dont think the UI is to bad. Thought it would be worse. Every one needs funding. And not every one knows about AV and what to get.

I'd bet it's a extremly high % of first time pc buyers would of never heard of avast etc. So they would need something.

You can't judge a program from it's looks (most of the time).

Edit: Hi, noknojon. Welcome. Interesting about Avira.

Hazelnut, I did have no conflicts w/ Avast! and MSE running together, only did it that way to see what would happen. Maybe Avira watches things a little more closely that Avast!?


Never have used it, might do so now. My built in EULA Alyzer overloaded and crashed...maybe thats what they intended.

During the setup screen MSE states to remove other AV's, so that alone should be revealing enough that you shouldn't run it with another AV being installed and resident, or at the very least completely disabled the already installed AV so there's no conflicts.

Anyone running MSE with another AV needs to seriously decide upon which one they want to keep, and remove the other.

People running two resident AV's are lucky they can even boot their system properly without it locking up!

You are quite right, Andavari, and I hope I have not created a problem for someone.

I just installed it that way to see what happened. I have gotten so lazy about uninstalling that if something won't install without a restart, I just about won't use it, 'cause I'm virtualized all the time.

Point was, MSE will install w/o a reboot, so you can try it out with "no commitment" if you Like.

MSE's started to become a memory hog as of late. It was fine for the first few days but then it became a memory hog. I also can't update it anymore because MSE gives an error message. I've decided to go back to good old Avast. ;D

Icedrake, please excuse my ignorance, but what did that "upgrade" button do? I wouldn't use it cause it required a restart, but was curious. Did it install a new app, update the original one, what? Thanks.

What upgrade button? I don't see anything in MSE right now, but I could be missing it.

Offtopic: I'm going to use the latest Avast5 beta as their newest version has very few bugs discovered so far, and I think all of their functions work.

After MSE installed and ran the quick scan, there was a white square in the middle of the GUI which said "Upgrade" (not update). I clicked it, some more downloading occurred, and a restart requirement was displayed. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of that. Not going to install anything right now which requires a restart, so I never knew what that download would have changed.

I just thought you might have remembered it from when you did your installation. Thanks either way.

I think I missed it because I didn't run a scan after installing MSE.

To upgrade click the down arrow beside help then Upgrade MSE.

There is no confusion about running MSE alongside other AV programs. You just dont need them. It would be a unnecessary use of resources and could cause conflicts.