Digital Home Thoughts: The New and Improved Microsoft Security Essentials!

"Microsoft Security Essentials was first released in September 2009 and is our award-winning no-cost light weight anti-malware service. It’s designed to help address the ongoing security needs of PCs running genuine Windows – helping keep people protected from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software."

I must admit that I currently use Microsoft Security Essentials as my default choice for my Windows based computers. While there are many choices out there, both at a cost and for free, I have found Microsoft's solution to be fairly lightweight and unobtrusive. However, it did seem a bit lacking, acting much like a traditional anti-virus solution one would get five years ago. Their newest beta appears to have changed that, putting it more in line with current generation "Internet Security" solutions. I am disappointed that it only integrates with Internet Explorer and not other browsers, but it is not surprising. As this is a beta, it has not been widely deployed yet, though I am hoping that it will not be a hog when it gets released for real. What is important for you in your anti-virus/trojan/malware/phishing software? Yes, there are some of you who do not use any, but for those that do, do you put thought in what you pick, or does a brand name do it all for you?