This is a relatively new product from Microsoft. By all accounts, it’s a very capable anti-virus and it is certainly less of a drain on your computer than the over bloated Internet Security offerings from people like Norton or Trend. And it will save you around sixty bucks a year because you can stop paying for anti-virus.

You do need to have a genuine copy of Windows. MSE will not install until you have passed “Windows Genuine Advantage”. Since all (windows based) computers should have shipped with a licence for Windows, usually a sticker on the case, you should not be afraid of this.

Prior to installing, remove any other anti-virus software you have. Uninstall Norton, Trend, AVG or whatever else you have. Reboot and you’re ready to go.

Installation is easy. Just go to the Microsoft web site (see below) and click “Download Now”. Oh, use Internet Explorer for the download. It only takes a few minutes. I found it very easy. Make sure you only get MSE by visiting the Microsoft web site, there are fakes out there, usually in the email or pop-ups on other web sites.

In practical use I found MSE worked as well as anything I’ve used before. I didn’t seem to slow the computer down noticeably. I even use it on my netbook which has a tiny processor and I didn’t notice any slow down at all. In fact if you have Norton and you remove it and switch to MSE, not only will you save money, you’ll probably notice your computer speeds UP.

I know I’ve been hard on free anti-virus in the past. With good reason - they were crap. I still see people with AVG and their machines are infected and they have that incredulous look on their face “but I have AVG, how can I be infected?”. Microsoft has a good reason to make a good anti-virus - Windows keeps getting infected. People are moving away from Windows because they are sick of it. So if Microsoft can fix the problem, maybe they can stem the tide. I think they are doing a very good job.

On the slightly down side, it isn’t centrally managed so if you have a network of a dozen or so computers, there is no way to download the updates once and share them around. There is no central reporting so your IT people can’t see which machines are getting attacked. I’m not sure it will work in a corporate setting, you might be stuck with Kaspersky or Trend.

Given that the threat has shifted away from old fashioned viruses to newer web based exploits, MSE will protect you as well as anything. It seems to find malware, spyware and quite a few of the other bad things. It isn’t perfect (nothing is) but I’m giving it the thumbs up.

Click here to get it FREE (this link takes you to the Microsoft web site)