Microsoft Security Essentials released

[kainashi]

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free antivirus software created by Microsoft that provides protection against viruses, spyware, rootkits, and trojans for Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

Downloads:
Windows XP (32 bit) (http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-xp.exe)
Windows Vista & Windows 7 (32 bit) (http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-vista-win7.exe)
Windows Vista & Windows 7 (64 bit) (http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-amd64fre-en-us-vista-win7.exe)

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if you need to know more, there's a pretty in depth review over at Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/mse.asp)

i've been beta testing it since june with no problems and i've switched to it full time from avg. :)

edit: page for it is now live: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

[Heald]

Looks good. I've recently managed to convince my family to stop using Norton (for some reason, they all thought Norton was the only 'real' antivirus software, just like they think Microsoft Windows is the only 'real' OS :sigh: ). Would you recommend it for them? I've been trying to convince them to use a different one. For that matter, would you recommend it to me?

[kainashi]

i've had zero problems with it and i've been using it for a couple months now. the beta scored in the top 5 when tested against other free antivirus solutions and you can check it out here (http://www.pcworld.com/article/170674/free_antivirus_software.html). i'd recommend it because it's fast, simple, and uses very little memory. :)