technical solutions and commentary

As a consumer, I am always looking for ways to save some money here and there. I was a log time fan of the AVG Free anti-virus until Microsoft came out with Windows Live OneCare, which I promptly switched to primarily for the automated backup, updating and reporting for all of my home computers and then secondly for the anti-virus, PC tuning, and security center. That was a great product that I thought was compelling enough to purchase, and it was licensed for 3 PCs. Since Microsoft stopped shipping that product, I looked at other paid Anti-virus and security suites but with the performance issues and third-party firewalls that were installed I decided against it. Even my ISP offers a security suite that is a paid retail product available for free to subscribers, but I had the same concerns. 

At the discontinuation of Live OneCare, Microsoft pulled the Anti-virus (Anti-malware) software out of that product and made it available for free as Microsoft Security Essentials. A great move for millions of consumers that don’t have ISP’s that provide free Anti-virus software, or for people that want something simple, works well with their PC and Windows Firewall, and doesn’t kill the PC performance. So, I downloaded the beta and then the full version of the software and never gave it a second thought.

Then I saw a write-up on a ZDNet Blog that talked about how free Anti-virus (Microsoft Security Essentials) outperformed paid Anti-virus. It’s an interesting read, especially if you are paying for Anti-virus software now and your subscription will be up for renewal soon. You can find the article here:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsoft-vs-mcafee-how-free-antivirus-outperformed-paid/2614

Before you plunk down $50 or so for Anti-virus, give it a second thought and give the free Microsoft Security Essentials a try. It’s worth a try and will save you some money too.

If you have a Mac you can get iAntiVirus Free Edition. Yes, it’s TRUE. There are thousands viruses that affect Macs floating around in contrast to popular belief.

If you have a Linux computer, you can get AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition for Linux.