25 October 2006
Windows Defender Released
Microsoft has released Windows Defender which was formerly known as Microsoft AntiSpyware beta.
Windows Defender has improved its ability to detect and remove spyware including the real time monitor. The definition files have also been changed so that they are smaller to allow for faster download times.
Microsoft will offer free support for installation and configuration, definition updates and errors with detection and removal, but only for a limited time after installing the software.
There is one possible disadvantage. While users should not be using pirated copies of Windows or any product, the inclusion of testing for that may not be the best option as we have already seen that it may not be accurate always. Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is a part of Windows Defender and while it will not lock your system if it detects a non-genuine version of Windows, it will run at a lower functionality level. It will show all spyware, but only remove the severe ones from the list on a non-genuine Windows.
Because of WGA having a tendency to sometimes wrongly accuse a system of being non-genuine, I would not recommend getting this software for fear that one day it will stop functioning correctly. I still recommend Ad-Aware for its ease and performance.
Windows Defender has improved its ability to detect and remove spyware including the real time monitor. The definition files have also been changed so that they are smaller to allow for faster download times.
Microsoft will offer free support for installation and configuration, definition updates and errors with detection and removal, but only for a limited time after installing the software.
There is one possible disadvantage. While users should not be using pirated copies of Windows or any product, the inclusion of testing for that may not be the best option as we have already seen that it may not be accurate always. Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is a part of Windows Defender and while it will not lock your system if it detects a non-genuine version of Windows, it will run at a lower functionality level. It will show all spyware, but only remove the severe ones from the list on a non-genuine Windows.
Because of WGA having a tendency to sometimes wrongly accuse a system of being non-genuine, I would not recommend getting this software for fear that one day it will stop functioning correctly. I still recommend Ad-Aware for its ease and performance.
Labels: defender, microsoft, spyware, wga, windows
