Microsoft advertises its Anti Spam program Windows Defender with the slogan spyware protection for free but is it really a good alternative to other anti spam and spyware programs like ad-aware and spybot search and destroy. It is only fair to compare Microsoft’s anti spyware software which is available free to other free solutions that can be used and downloaded for free as well. Microsoft’s Windows Defender came under heavy fire recently as two competitors released studies that were supposed to prove that Windows Defender had – by far – the weakest spyware and spam detection rate.
The question that I’m asking myself is if you really need the Windows Defender if you have been using programs like ad-aware or spybot before and I think the answer is pretty obvious: No, Windows Defender is not needed. It might be fine for users who do not know and care about spyware and could help those users protect their computers in a more secure way from spyware and spam but everyone else should really stay with the program that they have been using before.
This is backed up by some tests, for instance by Suzi Turner from Zdnet, who used a virtual spyware infected system and tested the efficiency of Windows Defender. She came to the conclusion that Windows Defender was only able to detect 65% to 75% of the Spyware that was installed on the system compared to the commercial programs Spyware Doctor and Spyware Sweeper.
I personally think that Windows Defender is just another program that does not excel in what it should do. The same can be said for other softwares from Microsoft like the Windows Firewall for instance. I would advise everyone to either use other freely available tools to scan and protect your pc from spyware and spam or buy a commercial product that lives up to its promises. It is furthermore a good idea to test your system from time to time with a tool like Hijack This just to make sure nothing bypassed your anti-spyware program.
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Autoruns from sysinternals is more comprehensive than HiJackThis – but run both of them if you want.
Surely this page should be taken down or else comprehensively updated? There is another page dedicated to Windows Defender; this article is dated 2007, and Defender is no longer an “anti-spam” product.
The comparisons with other software products are way out of date.