Windows 7 and Anti Virus

For those of you that were keen to get involved with either the Beta or RC versions of Windows 7, you may have noticed that the operating system was quick to highlight deficiencies with certain products that you may have previously installed on Windows Vista.

Grisoft's AVG was always a popular candidate for installing on your third-cousin-twice-removed's laptop but there are plenty of alternatives out there for the home user. When looking for an AV engine of choice, ensure you choose it for the right reasons. I always consult the VB100 and AV-Test.org test results to make a more informed decision. With that said, I also conduct my own strenuous testing on the core components and interoperability with other core components, everyone has their own needs.

My latest AV engine of choice for home user installations of the Windows 7 Beta is either:

Windows Security Essentials Beta (32 bit / 64 bit downloads from Softpedia)
or
Avira's free desktop engine

... of course, there are others.

Whilst Microsoft have pulled their Beta downloads from the Microsoft website, the installs are still available through Softpedia as outlined in the links above. Avira unfortunately throws a few advertising pop-ups from time to time. The Microsoft offering does not. Interestingly, Microsoft's Windows Security Essentials (codenamed "Morro") is the replacement for OneCare which previously was a paid-for subscription based product.

I can't help but think that Microsoft's decision to launch a free AV product is one of their best ideas ever and is a definitive realisation of Bill Gate's Trustworthy Computing initiative. From a business perspective it will also help strengthen their business-end product Forefront which likely uses the same signatures as the free client. As end-users feedback false positives and contaminated files found through heuristic analysis from the home user market, the new signatures developed will strengthen the business product also. This is an incredibly astute business decision and also a very responsible outcome from a long-term security perspective.