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Microsoft, according to this article by How-to Geek and other articles, is telling everyone not to use Microsoft Security Essentials, but to use a third party anti-virus instead. No longer concentrating on making a great antivirus, Microsoft has shifted its focus. Now Microsoft sends its anti-virus information to third party vendors to help them be more effective.
Since 2009, MSE has not done well on anti-virus comparative tests. Virus Bulletin, Dennis Technologies, and AV-Comparatives all report that several other antiviruses out perform it.
Use a Third-Party Vendor
According to the article, Holly Stewart, who works at the Microsoft Malware Protection Center as a senior programmer, said “that Microsoft Security Essentials was just a ‘baseline’ that’s designed to ‘always be on the bottom’ of antivirus tests. She said Microsoft sees MSE as a first layer of protection and advises Windows users to use a third-party antivirus instead.”
Some Ducktoes Techs Like MSE
At Ducktoes, some techs like Microsoft Security Essentials since it has such a low footprint, which means, that unlike many other anti-viruses, it doesn’t hog resources and slow computers down. They also like its easy to use interface. However, due to the above information from Microsoft, we will no longer put MSE on client computers unless the clients ask for it, after being informed of its relative lack of effectiveness. The article by How-to Geek says that MSE is fine for techs and others who know what they are doing. The How-to Geek author says, “Now, if you’re a geek like we are, MSE and Windows Defender are very usable. If you have good security practices and know what you’re doing, you can manage just fine with this lightweight option. But average Windows users don’t always follow proper security practices and should use a strong antivirus that does well in tests — as Microsoft themselves now recommend.”
What Should You Use?
Ducktoes likes and sells Kaspersky and AVG. We’ve been installing AVG cloud solutions to business client computers with great results. We also recommend and sell Malwarebytes Pro which I have on my home computer. I use the paid version (of Malwarebytes) with free AVG (free only for home use) . The two work very well together.
Ducktoes Developing Anti-Virus Cocktail
The Ducktoes anti-virus techs are developing an anti-virus cocktail to sell to our clients that will combine a few programs and browser add-ons to make a computer much more virus resistant.
Stay tuned and soon I’ll post the details of this new service.