Windows 7

Released today, Microsoft Security Essentials is a product that is advertised as a free solution for "Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection" of our favorite corporate giant Microsoft. The product is the result of a recent effort by Microsoft to force computer manufacturers to offer free, not end programs to combat malicious software. Available for Windows XP (x86), Vista (x64 and x86) and 7 (x64 and x86), Microsoft seems to be actually trying to help consumers to overcome the threats of the Internet everyday, and not to force users upgrade to its new platform, Windows 7, and all for free (assuming you pass a Genuine Advantage). Now, as for the test:

I'll be direct. Although love and Windows technology, Microsoft usually am disappointed in the products they produce, although I have to work with them daily. Beyond Windows 7, XP, and the MSN protocol, which tend to avoid Microsoft products. However, Microsoft Security Fundamentals (MSE) is an excellent example of Microsoft's recent moves in the right direction (with Windows 7). MSE is a solid, powerful product that the needs of every user of Windows, and has helped restore my faith in the giant from Redmond, even took me to replace my security suite (ESET Smart Security) with SSM (I thought about going without a full set of I can handle any threats to myself, but decided to keep MSE for the reasons stated in this article).

Firstly, I'm not a big fan of bloat. I was pleasantly surprised to see that MSE weighs in at a mere 4,28 MB installer. After installation, the folder for MSE also was only 10.8 MB, a very slight considering that this is a fully featured control antivirus solution. Then after I found MSE, for the first time is immediately updated definitions (which was very fast) and began to scan (I was already smiling). The default scan was based verification of%% windir% WINDIR% \ System, and the My Documents folder, but that explored my entire disk, and also lasted for all of three minutes.


I quickly browsed through the settings and set the entire program to the way I want it in five minutes. If the download took a minute and the installation was a minute (in fact, much shorter), then a reasonable team, should average approximately ten minutes or less for an entire setup. Not bad, Microsoft.

Now, in the characteristics and not my personal experience:

Main Menu (10 of 10)
The main welcome page is very simple and basic (but not in a bad way). In fact, when I first saw the home page, I realized that this was a first for Microsoft. They contain features that the average user is not used, is clean, simple and easy to understand. "Microsoft Security Essentials is the supervision of your team and helping to protect" can be understood by anyone, even the most unknowledgeable users. There were only three things you can do: change my type of scan, change the next time of exploration, and pull to a different window. Nice. An anti-virus should not be flashy and over the top, however, that should do the work and be simple enough for anyone to understand, Microsoft finally made in this regard.


Update Menu (9 of 10)

The update page was hard to judge. He continued in the same line from the main menu, but even more extreme, perhaps a little too much this time. I took off a point because I thought that the MSE should provide an option to check for updates at certain times (like 03:00, my favorite time of inactivity). Beyond that, the same applies to the update page, except that it has a "Did You Know!" Feature. Interesting, especially considering that explains exactly what the definitions are (something an average user may not know).


History Menu (10 of 10)

Assuming that this menu lets you reverse the steps taken by the MSE, give her a 10. However, it was found malware on my machine, so I was not really a test subject, so I assumed that MSE will allow a file back to normal for this page. If not, then please consider the classification of a 7 (no program is perfect, all protection solutions should have this option).

Beyond that, only good things can be said. The three filters provided by Microsoft every one has an explanation, once again to test the program as a rookie as possible (always a good thing). Would have been nice if we find something, however, to see the options provided (would be a good thing, but a bad thing at once).

Settings Menu (12 Out of 10)

The settings section really blew me away and finished up this article. Not only was the entire frontend ridiculously easy to understand and manipulate, the settings contained a description of every option and didn’t attempt to hide anything from the user. Not much can be said, except for a pat on the back to Microsoft. I was completely blown away.

Finish

Not originally wanted to write an opinion on MSE as I was sure it would be quite sarcastic, but I was pleasantly surprised. Microsoft has shown that it remains a powerful competitor in a growing market that can still provide users with exactly what they need. The software giant is bending strength, and actually flew some of the competition, all we need now are some data comparing the anti-malware products and see how MSE batteries up some competition. We know that is gained in terms of usability, the only question remaining is whether the motor can also be more astute than others.

Meanwhile, let me again congratulate Microsoft for a job well done. This is one of very few proprietary products that I like and can recommend it to each reader to download it and give it a try.