Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your
home or small business PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and
other malicious software.
If such quotes aren't confidence-inspiring, one thing is for certain;
Security Essentials has to be the least intrusive antivirus software
we've ever tested. We can't remember the last time we even noticed it
running on any of our PCs, except that its definitions sometimes appear
in the list of available software from Windows Update. In general that's
a good thing; it has remarkably little impact on system resources, and
is essentially unnoticeable unless it's actually performing a virus
scan.Double-click Security Essentials' discreet notification area icon and
you're presented with its simple tab-based interface which, oddly, seems
less inspired by Windows' current design than most other modern
security software. It's a simple package, with the main tabs giving you
basic control of scans and updates, and the settings tab offering
slightly more sophisticated options. There's not much advanced control,
however, and no extra security features such as file shredders or a
registry scanner.Security Essentials is preconfigured some sensible defaults, such
as a weekly scan scheduled for the small hours which won't run unless
the PC is idle. There's also a useful CPU throttle to prevent scans
hogging system resources, and the Microsoft Active Protection Service
(MAPS), through which users can share threat information with Microsoft
with the aim of improving the software's performance.
