Windows 8 Security: Defender Antivirus Review Discussion

Microsoft is adding a bunch of significant new security features in Windows 8, including Early Launch Anti Malware (ELAM), Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), and the first edition of Windows Defender to protect not just against malware but also against viruses. In this article, we'll describe Windows 8's overall security feature set, while also reviewing the new Defender and drawing comparisons between Defender and other antivirus (AV) packages, including the pre-existing Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).

Read the full content of this Article: Windows 8 Security: Defender Antivirus Review

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I really think that MS is improving consistently with this new approach for security, they are trying to get away from the fiasco that xp was in terms of security, that people think is inherently a characteristic of windows.

 

FYI you can set up a task with the task scheduler to update your definitions as much as you like, Hourly if you want. If I'm not mistaken the preset time that Defender/MSE uses is daily but definition updates are releases more than once a day. I suppose that somewhat takes away a negative point in your review . Unless you meant MS is just slow releasing newer definitions of course.

~Aeny

 

Good tip. There's no built-in setting in Defender to change the update schedule so that's why it got the negative point.

Something I don't like about MSE and now Defender in Win8 is that it takes away business from the existing security companies like Norton, McAfee, etc. Microsoft cannibalized a whole industry just like that. Microsoft is selling far more than what is traditionally defined as an "operating system".

 

I see the point you're making on this Charles, but at what cost does Microsoft not implement change? The "security" question is a big one for people new to, or uneducated about computing. It's a huge selling point used in the Apple stores every day. In order for Microsoft to shed that negative persona, they had to take control of the situation. I'd agree that consuming an industry and discouraging new business is problematic economically to those companies, but if Microsoft didn't choose this route, one could argue it would be economically problematic for themselves. Survival is a baser instinct, after all.

 

I'd have to disagree here. Back when XP was released, not being connected to the internet was not entirely unheard-of, and having a robust security system within the OS wasn't nearly as imperative. In today's environment, it's absolutely essential for an OS to mesh with the internet--and part of that means protecting users against the wide gamut of threats out there. I'd argue than an AV solution is most definitely part of the operating system definition, just as much as Internet Explorer.

Symantec, McAfee, Kaspersky, etc will all need to adapt accordingly: most have improved their products considerably, offering much greater security and features, and some have also implemented a service element as well. I think this latest step in W8 is extremely promising.

 

I've been using Security Essentials since it was released (before that used Avira's Antivir, before that Symantec before it got horrible).

Sooo obviously Windows Defender is a renamed Security Essentials, right down to how it works. The one thing I really dislike though is security essentials allows you to manually scan files by adding a right click contextual menu-Defender doesn't have that...which seems like a bizarre oversight.

 

That is a good point Wolfpup but from what I read the lack of that feature is by design. In Windows 8, how do I scan a file to check for viruses? - Microsoft Community (Even the modders have not found a work around yet LOL)

 

Thanks! I guess that makes sense, that MSE...err...Defender would already have scanned stuff as it's being written to disk anyway (mainly I like scanning files that I've downloaded from the Internet before I launch them) so a contextual scan is redundant. Still, it makes me feel better LOL

I do miss having the MSE/Defender icon in my task bar though...I liked having it so I'd know if for some reason my definitions were massively out of date (did happen a couple of times), or so that I could quickly update definitions if I was going to download a word doc or whatever I wasn't sure about.