Since this happened such software has begun to creep back into Windows.  Windows 8 is without doubt the worst offender ever with a new Metro version of Internet Explorer embedded into the new Start Screen as well as the desktop version present also.  It is the first version of Windows to include anti-virus software and now we learn that the ARM-version of Windows 8 will also include desktop versions of Microsoft’s next office suite, codenamed “Office 15″ in the form of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.  So what’s happening here and could Microsoft face more anti-trust action in the coming years?

To look at this we have to look at the competition.  When Microsoft were going through their anti-trust actions there really wasn’t any.  At first they just had two desktop operating systems to compete against, OS X and GNU/Linux.  With this they had a monopoly, but one that they’d worked hard for and earned.  With the software things were a different issue where there were a great many web browsers, media players and more.

I began to wonder what might happen with further anti-trust actions when Microsoft announced that, for the first time, they would be bundling anti-virus software with Windows.  ”Windows Defender” isn’t like the existing Windows Defender that first appeared with XP, it’s a re-badged version of Microsoft’s free Security Essentials product.  So far no other anti-virus vendor has kicked up a fuss, though that may still happen.

We had further news though this week that Windows 8 on ARM processors will also include bundled versions of the company’s next generation Office suite in the form of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.  Surely then this would cause a real storm and trigger another anti-trust investigation right away?  Actually I don’t think it will, and it’s likely that Microsoft may never face another anti-trust investigation again.

There are several reasons for this.  The first is that in the last few years all manner of popular and effective competition has sprung up in the operating system space, in the form of iOS, WebOS, QNX, Chrome OS and most notably Android.  Each and every one of these operating systems (with the notable exception of ChromeOS which is entirely cloud-based) come pre-installed with a bespoke web browser, media player and more and all but iOS come with a pre-loaded Office productivity suite.  This then is surely what will have triggered Microsoft’s decision to bundle a version of Office with Windows 8 tablets.

It’s a savvy move too.  They will undoubtedly be cut-down versions, similar to the Office web apps, and will be used to try and up-sell people to the full version of Office on their PCs in the same way that Office Starter, which is commonly shipped free of charge with new PCs does already.

It is very easy now then for Microsoft’s lawyers to argue that bundling Office 15 with Windows 8 tablets isn’t anti-competitive at all, especially as they don’t do it with the desktop version of the OS.  They’re just copying what other tablet operating system makers have been doing for some time now.  With the anti-virus argument it might be a harder argument to make, and it is possible we will see some of the smaller or even major anti-virus vendors complaining to the US authorities or to the EU.  It’s much more likely though that they’ll simply dismiss Windows Defender as being “rubbish” (which it isn’t I should add if you’re considering it) and trying to convince people to buy their own suites anyway.

So what do you think the legal future is for Microsoft given everything they’re bundling with Windows 8?  Why not tell us in the comments below?

In the invitation email the company say…

The Beta program is a fully functional antimalware app with ongoing updates to help protect your PC from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.  In addition to ongoing virus and spyware definition updates, we’ll provide software updates to the Beta for download through Microsoft Update on a periodic basis. To have these updates installed automatically, you must be subscribed to Microsoft Update with preferences set to Automatically download and install new updates.

This edition, version 4.0.1111.0 comes in both 64 bit and 32 bit versions and can upgrade a current Security Essentials installation automatically.  The company also say that…

At the end of the Beta program, participants who are subscribed to automatic updates through Microsoft Update will be upgraded to the released version of Microsoft Security Essentials.

Which is news that will be welcomed by many people who simply don’t want to have to worry about it.

Microsoft have said that among improvements will be a much simplified interface, though on initial inspection it is very difficult to tell the difference between this and the previous version.

The new features are…

• Enhanced protection through automatic malware remediation: The Beta program will clean highly impacting malware infections automatically, with no required user interaction.
• Enhanced performance: The Beta includes many performance improvements to make sure your PC performance isn’t
  compromised.
• Simplified UI – Simplified UI makes Microsoft Security Essentials Beta easier to use.
• New and improved protection engine: The updated engine offers enhanced detection with cleanup capabilities and better performance.

This software, which is based on the company’s Forefront anti-virus engine for enterprise customers, has been receiving some criticism in the last year for dropping down the ranking in anti-virus tests.  This beta includes an improved scanning engine and Microsoft will be counting on this to put Security Essentials back in the top two or three for quarterly effectiveness surveys.

Microsoft Security Essentials is being built into Windows for the first time with Windows 8 and as such is bound to become a significant target itself.  If people aren’t to install other third-party anti-virus software in Windows 8 they need to be reassured that Security Essentials, currently badged as Windows Defender in Windows 8, is a quality product that will protect them.

This inclusion into Windows 8 will make Security Essentials a target for malware writers who will try and undermine its effectiveness.  The overall security features in Windows such as User Account Control will help minimise the surface for attack, but this must be high on Microsoft’s mind at the moment.

The download is 19.91Mb for both the versions (the 64-bit version is 11.04Mb and the 32-bit version is 8.87Mb) and runs on any version of Windows from XP with Service Pack 3 or later.  The version you install must match the edition of Windows you are running, 32-bit or 64-bit.

The public beta is available through the Microsoft Connect website at connect.microsoft.com and I should stress it is just a beta, so should not be considered bug free and it might include vulnerabilities that leave your system vulnerable to malware and viruses.

But what’s new in Security Essentials 2? It is probably heuristic scanning which tries to identify unknown threats by scanning for typical malware patterns on the system. It is also possible again to scan from Windows Explorer by right-clicking a file and selecting the Scan with Microsoft Security Essentials context menu item.

The official Microsoft Security Essentials website lists the following features as new in this version of the security program:

• Windows Firewall integration. Security Essentials setup enables you to turn on or off Windows Firewall.
• Network Inspection System. This feature enhances real-time protection by inspecting network traffic to help proactively block exploitation of known network-based vulnerabilities.
• New and improved protection engine. The updated engine offers enhanced detection and cleanup capabilities with better performance

Small businesses may like the fact that Microsoft Security Essentials can be installed on up to 10 PCs free of charge. Windows users can download Security Essentials 2.0 from Microsoft Download. The software is offered as a 32-bit and 64-bit edition. Please note that the program requires a genuine copy of Windows. (via)

The move is a turn around from the launch of the product, which is based on the same scanning engine as the company’s award-winning ForeFront Client Security, corporate anti-virus package, when it said the product was strictly for home and OEM use only.

In a blog post yesterday the company said “This new availability will allow small businesses to take advantage of Microsoft’s no-cost anti-malware service that will help them save time, save money and remain productive while protecting them from viruses, spyware and other malicious threats.”

This move will be broadly welcomed by many small businesses for whom finances can be especially tight when it comes to ICT.  However it could be a canny move by Microsoft who are planning to launch a managed security environment package, based on Security Essentials, late this year or early next that is aimed, specifically, at small businesses!

Former US President Theodore Rosvelt once famously said “If you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.”  If Microsoft can encourage companies to install MSE then the upgrade to the managed version would be pain and worry free.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a successor to the company’s ill-fated Live OneCare subscription anti-virus package.

A problem with the downloads exists at the moment. Most users can only download the programs partially, even if they try different browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.

We have tried to download both versions in the last couple of hours ever since the beta was announced. The only way it worked for us was to download the Microsoft File Transfer Manager first, before downloading the releases using the file transfer manager.

Before we explain how to download the latest beta of Microsoft Security Essentials Beta we would like to take a short look at the new features of Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Beta

What’s new in Microsoft Security Essentials Beta 2.0

microsoft security essentials download

• Windows Firewall integration – During setup, Microsoft Security Essentials will now ask if you would like to turn the Windows Firewall on or off.
• Enhanced protection for web-based threats – Microsoft Security Essentials now integrates with Internet Explorer to provide protection against web-based threats.
• New protection engine – The updated anti-malware engine offers enhanced detection and cleanup capabilities with better performance.
• Network inspection system – Protection against network-based exploits is now built in to Microsoft Security Essentials.

How to download Microsoft Security Essentials Beta

• Download Microsoft’s File Transfer Manager, link is listed above. Make sure Internet Explorer is closed, install the transfer manager and open Internet Explorer afterwards. We have used Internet Explorer 8 for the downloads.
• Open the Microsoft Connect website, this will prompt a Windows live login form. Log into Windows Live, or create an account if you have none at hand
• A Microsoft Security Essentials Beta is displayed, will all kinds of information about the beta and the software. A click on the Download Microsoft Security Essentials Beta link will open the download options.
• Select either Microsoft Security Essentials Beta for 32-bit or Microsoft Security Essentials Beta for 64-bit
• Now click on Download selected file(s) using FTM, to initiate the download in the Microsoft File Transfer Manager

microsoft file transfer manager

We have uploaded both files for your convenience to file hosts on the Internet, download links below:

• MSI 32-bit
• MSI 64-bit

Just download Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Beta from the links above, if the downloads at Microsoft Connect fail all the time.

Update: Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Final released

Security Essentials is a signature based security software which means that it can only protect the system at its fullest if the signature database is regularly updated. This is in contrast to heuristics software which might also identify files as malware on their behavior alone even if no signature is available.

But Microsoft Security Essentials is signature based which can be problematic if the software is installed on a computer without permanent Internet connection.

microsoft security essentials

Microsoft thought of computer situations without Internet connection and has made available the signature files on the Internet so that they can be downloaded and transferred to other computer systems.

Microsoft Security Essentials Signature Download

Signatures (full) for 32-bit Windows systems
Signatures (full) for 64-bit Windows systems

Signature File (Update Only) for 32-bit Windows system (about 13.4MB):
Signature File (Update Only) for 64-bit Windows system (about 13.7MB)

The files that are downloaded are executables. Launching them on the target system will automatically update the Microsoft Security Essentials signature database to include the latest malicious software information.

The best way to download Microsoft Security Essentials is therefor directly from Microsoft. You can point your web browser directly to the Security Essentials website which is hosted at Microsoft.com.

The only valid alternatives are trusted download portals like Softpedia or Betanews but definitely not third party websites that are offering the download. Most experienced users might not have a problem distinguishing legit and rogue websites but many Internet users seem to have them.

Update: Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Final released

Microsoft Security Essentials will check if the operating system is genuine before proceeding with the actual installation of the program. The system requirements lists other requirements like a version of Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, 140 Megabytes of free hard drive space or a computer system with at least one Gigabyte of computer memory.

The program will update the virus and spyware definitions on the first startup and perform a system scan afterwards. The quick scan (that’s what it is called) can actually take some time to complete depending on the files and processes of the operating system. Users who have been using the beta of Microsoft Security Essentials liked the low resource usage of the program. It’s been using roughly 46 Megabytes of computer memory which is more than acceptable. CPU is on the other hand used quite a bit during scans. The computer memory usage will not change at all while the cpu usage drops to zero during times of no active scans.

Interested users can download the final version of Microsoft Security Essentials from the official Microsoft website.

Update: Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Final released

This does not mean however that there is no way of downloading Microsoft’s antivirus software. You just have to look elsewhere for the download. The software is available on various P2P networks which is however probably not the safest way to download the Security Essentials. A better option is to look at the various download portals who check and verify all downloads that they offer which makes the process more secure.

Microsoft Security Essentials can be downloaded from Softpedia for example. The version of the software that can be downloaded is the exact same version that was available for download at the Microsoft Security Essentials website. It is basically the beta client of the software that was available for download. Users even save some time and hassle as they do not have to log in with their Windows Live account to download the Security Essentials software.

Update: Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Final released

A question that lingered in the minds of many security conscious users was how Security Essentials would compare to other respected antivirus software programs such as Kaspersky antivirus, Norton antivirus or the free AVG or Avira Anti-Vir. First tests are in courtesy of the German AV-Test GMBH company.

Computerworld spoke with the company’s manager Andreas Marx who mentioned that they ran preliminary tests with a set of nearly 3,200 common viruses, bot Trojans and worms on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Results were impressive as Security Essentials was able to detect all malicious software in the tests and managed to avoid false positive reports as well. Tests with a larger set of viruses, trojans and worms have been scheduled which is why the current results should not be considered final.

Security Essentials did well in this first test though as it was able to detect all the malicious software (which included rootkits as well). This stands in contrast to comments made by other antivirus companies that were trying to be suggestive that Security Essentials was an inferior product.

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.