Microsoft has made available the public beta version of their new free antivirus software program Microsoft Security Essentials which was formerly known as Morro. The antivirus software is available for 32-bit editions of Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.
It was formerly speculated that the beta would be limited to users from the United States, Israel, China and Brasil. This is apparently not so as it was possible to download the Microsoft Security Essentials Beta from Europe. Having said that it is clear that there is no IP check at this point in time. A Windows Live account is required to initiate the beta download of the antivirus software and it could be that there are checks in the background that check the system language or country of the Windows Live account.
The start page contains a quick survey that has to be completed before the download options become available after logging in. You can read a first review in the Microsoft Security Essentials leaks article here at Ghacks.
It would be interesting if users from other countries (that Microsoft excluded from the beta) can also download the Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software. The Security Essentials website contains information about the product and the link to Microsoft Connect from where the security program can be downloaded.
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Pity, seems the beta _is_ now limited to the US, Israel, China and Brazil. I’m in Portugal and when I tried to download a few seconds ago I got this message:
Not available in your country or region
You appear to be in a country or region where the Microsoft Security Essentials Beta is unavailable.
This beta is available only to customers in the United States, Israel (English only), People’s Republic of China (Simplified Chinese only) and Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese only).
Oh well.
I just downloaded the beta from Denmark, with no problems at all.
You’re right! At my work place the link to the Microsoft Connect site didn’t work (I got the message I indicated above) but here at home (still in Portugal :-) I was able to get access without any problems. Odd since I am already a registered user of the Connect site too…
Had no problem accessing Microsoft site for download, which went rather quickly, after answering questions to become a Beta Tester/User. The Microsoft Security Essentials Beta (MSEB) , due to its nature of being a security package, deletes Windows Defender (if installed) without any notice / warning / indication. The MXEB is supposed to be stand-alone (no other visus software installed/running), however it iinstalled and scanned with Verizon Internet Security Suite installed without any conflict from either software. The MXEB seems to ee slow, but thorough. A deep scan of nearly 400,000 files took about 4 hours, but the MXEB will probably develop into a very good security software.
Woody Leonhard had no trouble downloading it in Thailand. He used Firefox.
http://www.askwoody.com/
Im from Belgium.
No download here available…:(((
Not available in your country or region
Not available in your country or region
You appear to be in a country or region where the Microsoft Security Essentials Beta is unavailable.
This beta is available only to customers in the United States, Israel (English only), People’s Republic of China (Simplified
Microsoft Security Essentials has turned out to be a decent app. Good detection rates and a simple interface. I only worry because I fear the fox guarding the hen house! :)
All in all a decent choice for those looking for a simple effective solution.