Microsoft's free Security Essentials software goes live

Following a year-long development phase and several months in limited public beta, Microsoft has finally released the full version of its anti-malware scanner today -- Microsoft Security Essentials. Formerly codenamed Morro, this free-of-charge replacement for OneCare is designed to provide consumers with real-time protection against Trojans, computer viruses, spyware and rootkits.

Read the whole story (http://www.techspot.com/news/36386-microsofts-free-security-essentials-software-goes-live.html)

Nice to see another option for free security apps, but there seems to be too much hype around this product, most people on forums say it's the best antivirus ever and if i recall correctly, it uses the same engine as One Core, which ranked behind products like Avast, Avira, Bitdefender and F-Secure among others in the latest avcomparatives test.

I'll stick with Avira until i see some serious and independent testing on this software.

I have been using this since it was in beta both at home and at work, and have had no issues with it at all. Granted I am pretty cautious about what I install on my computers and the locations I surf on the web. It is missing a few features which would be nice to have, being able to view the scan history for example, but as a free app with daily updates, I have found it to be a good program, and reliable virus/malware protection app.

Liked what I saw, installed it, liked it even more, cancelled the big-name security subscription I've had, like, forever.

(Oh God, I'm depending on MS not to mess this up ...)

I have 70 days left on my OneCare trial, then I'll switch.