Microsoft Antivirus Nearly the Worst Antivirus

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Exterminator

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Microsoft Antivirus Nearly the Worst Antivirus

Microsoft is betting big on Windows Defender for protecting users running the latest version of Windows, but the company is also recommending those who are still on Windows 7 to install its very own security product to stay secure.

And while the company doesn’t put the same effort into making its antivirus solution more efficient on Windows 7, third parties do it, and this becomes obvious when checking out the results of antivirus tests like the ones performed by AV-TEST.

While Kaspersky is currently the top antivirus on Windows 7, Microsoft’s security software is lagging behind rivals in a substantial manner, as it scored poor in all three major tests for protection, performance and usability.
Microsoft’s Security Essentials was the last but one in the tests, getting 5 points for protection, 4.5 points for performance, and just 4 points for usability. The only solution that scored worst was Comodo’s, which got an overall rating of 12.5 points due to particularly disappointing results in the performance test were it received just 1.5 points.

Massive slowdown when installing apps
According to AV-TEST, Microsoft Security Essentials reached 99 percent protection against 0-day malware attacks, including web and email threats in the July testing, while the rating dropped to 97 percent a month later. Detection of widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the last 4 weeks was nearly perfect (99.8 percent), with MSE also returning 0 false warnings or blocks when visiting websites.

On the other hand, there were 13 and 15 false detection warnings of legitimate software as malware during a system scan, AV-TEST shows.

Microsoft Security Essentials slows down the system the worst when installing frequently used applications on both a standard and a high-end PC, with the testing institute determining an impact of 56 and 78 percent, respectively.

All in all, Microsoft Security Essentials is an application to avoid, the AV-TEST research shows, as the majority of well-known security products perform substantially better, including tools that are available with a free license.
 

SHvFl

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Lol so they have an issue that in a test a product got 97+% in all test? Do they even understand statistics or just cool graphs?

And then they complain about impact when installing applications? Like really dude you have an issue with something you do once because it takes a few more seconds?
 

valvaris

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I know that this question seems off-topic but I think it is relevant in some way to understand Windows Defender more... ;)

How does the Windows 10 Ent. E5 Lic. resolve in such a test. There are so many features disabled in Windows Defender on the Pro. version of Windows 10 that a recommendation is not even considered. (Missing features like: AppLocker, Windows Defender Application Guard, Windows Defender ATP and so on...) - Since Microsoft changed the Lic. policy for KMU (SMB) it comes more and more in to focus on what security is all about in the private sector... (cash grab!)

Just Image how many tools do you really need to protect your system aka small network of devices.

Of course if you can go free with allot of research but does it work as intended or does your system suffer the load?

Best regards
Val.
 
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Arequire

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Seeing as MSE lacks the biggest benefit of Defender (OS integration) there's practically no reason to install it over a third-party solution on Windows 7.
Contribution to Microsoft's threat intelligence is the only real reason I can think of.
 
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