Microsoft Security Essentials – Really the Best?

Over at independent comparator and evaluator, AV-Comparatives, we see that in one of their latest tests, Microsoft Security Essentials is rated at the top of  all the free antivirus products and very high when the paid versions are thrown in.

I don’t debate the results. I don’t doubt that the site has gotten them after their testing. What I question is their interpretation of the results. It comes down to the way you score certain parts of the formula. Good, of course, best, perhaps, but then will we see the demise of all other paid antivirus solutions? (It might be worthwhile, just to witness the end of Symantec – the company I truly hate, for it has destroyed many fine products over the years.)

The guys at Download Squad certainly believe the conclusions drawn by AV-Comparatives -

Thousands of downloads. Countless positive reviews on software blogs around the Internet. It’s been quite a ride so far for Microsoft Security Essentials.

In AV Comparative’s most recent report on malware removal, MSE was the only free antivirus rated Advanced+. That ranking placed it alongside big names like Norton, Kaspersky, and F-Secure. Security Essentials also beat out technician favorite ESET, which managed only an Advanced rating.

It’s also worth noting that only three antivirus apps – Norton 2010, eScan, and Security Essentials – scored marks of good or better in removal of malware and removal of leftovers. So not only has MSE beaten free competitors like AVG (version 8.5 tested, not 9.0), Avira, and Avast, it also posted test scores equal to or better than a dozen antivirus programs you’d have to pay for.

Well done, Microsoft!

I remain unconvinced. Not because of any anti-Microsoft bias, but because I don’t think that all the right questions were asked, and some of the things that were ignored, should have been made more the focus.

What are your experiences with Microsoft Security Essentials?

Since I don’t tend to have virus problems, my biggest gripe is that, on my laptop, a Celeron 1.5GHz running Windows XP SP3, the MSE runtime can get very intrusive if the laptop is not started every day (mine is not). When restarting the machine, it immediately hogs the internet connection downloading updates and doing what seems to be a much more intense scan. If the laptop is used every day, the update occurs, but the intense loading of the CPU does not. There seems to be no explanation for this, and nothing in the program would seem to explain the behavior. If the machine is used every day, the MSE program hums along at between 2% and 15% of CPU usage during a scan. If the machine has been off for a day or so, the CPU usage can be as high as 85% for almost an hour (remember the CPU speed, and the fact that this is a 160 GB hard drive).

Other than that, I have few complaints, other than the nagging pain in the back of my head, wondering if this really is getting everything. I’m going to go to one of the online checks, just to have a second opinion – it is not worth removing, or trying to disable MSE, to then install AVG or Avira, do a scan, and then remove and re-install MSE.

§

⌘

⌘

•

Last day of the month, so the pink will go to another color tomorrow, but we should be aware of this every month of the year…