RIP MSE
- Thread starter Donald
- Start date
- Status
I never understood the logic of using MSE. Why would you trust the company that can't make their operating system secure, with your antimalware needs??? They aren't secure on the front end; like their going to be any better on the back end?
Because free.
Also, lightweight.
Ive never had a problem with it.
Also, lightweight.
Ive never had a problem with it.
JHZR2
Staff member
They dont really make any money on it, so why would they do it?
Maybe W7/W8 is less prone to virii (e.g. like mac, unix and other OSes)?
If the market remained for the third party stuff (our work computers still have it), then they obviously arent providing much value added to their big paying markets.
Seems a rational decision. Arent there a ton of free decent malware and virus scanners???
Maybe W7/W8 is less prone to virii (e.g. like mac, unix and other OSes)?
If the market remained for the third party stuff (our work computers still have it), then they obviously arent providing much value added to their big paying markets.
Seems a rational decision. Arent there a ton of free decent malware and virus scanners???
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I never understood the logic of using MSE. Why would you trust the company that can't make their operating system secure, with your antimalware needs??? They aren't secure on the front end; like their going to be any better on the back end?
This isn't really a valid argument. MS does a good job now (they were a lot worse in the late 90s) at patching vulnerabilities as they're discovered. The purpose of an anti-malware application is different - it detects and then removes evil programs based on how they act.
Conceptually, it's like Windows is the wall, and MS patches holes in the wall as they're found. Anti-malware programs are like the guards outside the wall, intercepting bad guys before they reach it. The effectiveness of the guards is unrelated to the strength of the wall.
Full disclosure: I use MSE on my home PC's because it's free and lightweight.
I never understood the logic of using MSE. Why would you trust the company that can't make their operating system secure, with your antimalware needs??? They aren't secure on the front end; like their going to be any better on the back end?
This isn't really a valid argument. MS does a good job now (they were a lot worse in the late 90s) at patching vulnerabilities as they're discovered. The purpose of an anti-malware application is different - it detects and then removes evil programs based on how they act.
Conceptually, it's like Windows is the wall, and MS patches holes in the wall as they're found. Anti-malware programs are like the guards outside the wall, intercepting bad guys before they reach it. The effectiveness of the guards is unrelated to the strength of the wall.
Full disclosure: I use MSE on my home PC's because it's free and lightweight.
I still like ESET. I am OK with paying for it. I get a 3 license copy and give the extra 2 copies to my daughters.
Since I do comp support for my mother, I've seen both MS Defender and MSE just roll over and let the bad stuff in. Many, many hours spent cleaning up the system.
They are semi-useless IMO.
They are semi-useless IMO.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Arent there a ton of free decent malware and virus scanners???
Avast, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, Comcast, Lavasoft, Panda, Qihu, all have excellent free real time antimalware products.
Arent there a ton of free decent malware and virus scanners???
Avast, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, Comcast, Lavasoft, Panda, Qihu, all have excellent free real time antimalware products.
I started using MSE shortly after it moved to the top of the heap of free AV software. I've never had any problems with it, but I can find another.
For years, people complained that MS didn't have an anti-malware solution out of the box.
Now they have one.
Now they don't.
Microsoft keeps playing hokey-pokey with everything, frustrating.
Now they have one.
Now they don't.
Microsoft keeps playing hokey-pokey with everything, frustrating.
Good riddance.
Considering their own philosophy in writing an OS is what led to the situation in the first place, MSE shouldn't have been considered a separate piece of software at all. It was a giant patch, and a band-aid solution at that, that just happened to have free and for-profit competition.
Win 7 and 8 are more secure in that they run most stuff at the user level and things that need to change the oper sys get trapped with a msg asking permission. I hope people do not always say "YES".
I used MSSE for years, I actually just switched all our computers back to AVG free since the newest version is actually very good and lightweight and once you turn off notifications is just as hassle free as msse.
My brother got a couple trojans on his computer that MSSE couldn't remove. I had to run Malwarebytes and then do a system restore and run again to remove them. MSSE was great for a while, but nowaays AVG free is better and just as lightweight.
My brother got a couple trojans on his computer that MSSE couldn't remove. I had to run Malwarebytes and then do a system restore and run again to remove them. MSSE was great for a while, but nowaays AVG free is better and just as lightweight.
Originally Posted By: Garak
Considering their own philosophy in writing an OS is what led to the situation in the first place, MSE shouldn't have been considered a separate piece of software at all. It was a giant patch, and a band-aid solution at that, that just happened to have free and for-profit competition.
There is no reasonable way to make something as complex as an operating system 100% secure. Every OS, and I mean EVERY OS...has vulnerabilities, bugs, security holes, etc.
Their only crime was making an OS that became widely used.
Considering their own philosophy in writing an OS is what led to the situation in the first place, MSE shouldn't have been considered a separate piece of software at all. It was a giant patch, and a band-aid solution at that, that just happened to have free and for-profit competition.
There is no reasonable way to make something as complex as an operating system 100% secure. Every OS, and I mean EVERY OS...has vulnerabilities, bugs, security holes, etc.
Their only crime was making an OS that became widely used.
Originally Posted By: Garak
Considering their own philosophy in writing an OS is what led to the situation in the first place, MSE shouldn't have been considered a separate piece of software at all. It was a giant patch, and a band-aid solution at that, that just happened to have free and for-profit competition.
Well, that is the MS security model, an add on.
Now windows security software is a multi-billion dollar industry; no sign of anyone involved in it wanting to disassemble that revenue stream.
Considering their own philosophy in writing an OS is what led to the situation in the first place, MSE shouldn't have been considered a separate piece of software at all. It was a giant patch, and a band-aid solution at that, that just happened to have free and for-profit competition.
Well, that is the MS security model, an add on.
Now windows security software is a multi-billion dollar industry; no sign of anyone involved in it wanting to disassemble that revenue stream.
Last edited:
I still go back to the question of how many MS security issues are due to giving admin rights to the first/only user of the machine?
Install your machine, create an admin user, check your admin user to make sure the new account works. Demote your everyday user account to a regular account.
Hard to install most malware etc if you are not doing day to day work with a privileged account.
I limit the time I spend as root on Solaris and Linux boxes. Most of the time I'm simply a regular user.
Do that and stay current on patches and updates and you probably won't face many issues.
Install your machine, create an admin user, check your admin user to make sure the new account works. Demote your everyday user account to a regular account.
Hard to install most malware etc if you are not doing day to day work with a privileged account.
I limit the time I spend as root on Solaris and Linux boxes. Most of the time I'm simply a regular user.
Do that and stay current on patches and updates and you probably won't face many issues.
Interesting to compare the AV Comparative Test results over the last 3 or 4 years. It does look like MSE is slipping lower and lower on the ratings results as time goes on.
Look at the summary matrix on page 3 of the 2012 report.
http://www.av-comparatives.org/summary-reports/
Look at the summary matrix on page 3 of the 2012 report.
http://www.av-comparatives.org/summary-reports/
Originally Posted By: javacontour
I still go back to the question of how many MS security issues are due to giving admin rights to the first/only user of the machine?
Install your machine, create an admin user, check your admin user to make sure the new account works. Demote your everyday user account to a regular account.
Hard to install most malware etc if you are not doing day to day work with a privileged account.
I limit the time I spend as root on Solaris and Linux boxes. Most of the time I'm simply a regular user.
Do that and stay current on patches and updates and you probably won't face many issues.
I believe this is pretty much what WIn 7 does forcing a msg requesting permission to change the operating system.
I still go back to the question of how many MS security issues are due to giving admin rights to the first/only user of the machine?
Install your machine, create an admin user, check your admin user to make sure the new account works. Demote your everyday user account to a regular account.
Hard to install most malware etc if you are not doing day to day work with a privileged account.
I limit the time I spend as root on Solaris and Linux boxes. Most of the time I'm simply a regular user.
Do that and stay current on patches and updates and you probably won't face many issues.
I believe this is pretty much what WIn 7 does forcing a msg requesting permission to change the operating system.
Oh certainly. Being large helped it be a target. But, that's not their only crime. Allowing any application to write anything, anywhere in the file system (including OS critical files) was the biggest crime. It's taken them many, many years to realize that, but they're finally beginning to understand it, slowly but surely.
- Status
