MSE - Microsoft Security Essentials

MSE - Microsoft Security Essentials

Although Microsoft claims they are not competing with commercial software, they are doing relatively well and by most accounts, MSE is a decent program. Almost all reviewers report the software is capable and does not sap system resources.

Benefits:

• It is tightly-integrated into Windows and runs well in Windows 8, 7 and XP.
• Performance is invisible.
• Unobtrusive - no nagging.
• Quiet, automatic updates; several times per day.
• A simple, straight-forward user-interface.
• It is free; no registration; fully-functional; no upgrades to paid packages.

MSE not only uses virus signatures to detect malware, it can also flag suspicious activity, such as an unexpected network connection, modifications to system files, or if software attempts to download in the background. When MSE sees activity like this, it automatically sends the suspected malware to Microsoft's servers for analysis. With 100 million PC's, this gives Microsoft a good pool for correcting problems.