s: I understand that Windows Defender Antivirus gives Windows users the same basic protection you get from other free antivirus programs like Avast Free Edition and AVG Free Edition. Is this true?
– Earl F. Location not mentioned
a: Windows Defender Antivirus (known as Windows Defender in the past) is a perfectly capable antivirus for Windows computers.
Is it an alternative to other free threat blocking versions, such as the aforementioned AVG Free Edition and Avast Free Edition? Yes and no, but it also depends on your computing environment and what you like to do with your system.
If you remember, Windows Defender started as a piece of additional software that came pre-installed on Windows PCs. Initially, it served as a second-level, on-demand scanning system to detect basic malware — and frankly, it wasn’t very good at the job.
However, over the years, and especially since the release of Windows 10, Windows Defender has evolved into a more complex and comprehensive way to protect the system. In addition to the name upgrade, it’s also added a number of high-end features to its previous One Note services, which when combined put its capabilities closer to what you’d find with paid antivirus titles, including Norton, Kaspersky, and the like, than its free antivirus counterparts. The software’s current features include real-time threat detection, firewall and network protection, protection against phishing sites, hardware security monitoring, and parental controls, to name a few.
For this reason, and due to its free price for Windows users, it has attracted a lot of interest lately as a potential alternative to both paid or free antivirus software.
And in many ways, that void can certainly be filled.
According to research conducted across security-focused sites such as SafetyDetectives.com and PCMag.com, Windows Defender Antivirus has performed positively in comparisons with other similar programs, and in its testing it performed very well at stopping many common threats, particularly those that Aimed at Microsoft-built. Programs and systems.
For most people who use their computers for just the computing basics like creating documents, browsing the web, sending and receiving email, storing files and photos, and streaming video and music, this may be enough to keep them safe most of the time.
But that may not be the case for those who are venturing away from the standard Windows setup on their PC.
According to those same sources, Windows Defender Antivirus hasn’t performed as well as its competitors, including both paid and free titles, when it comes to protecting systems with software and features not created by Microsoft. These tests showed that those who used Microsoft Edge for web browsing and Outlook for email got a stronger level of protection from Windows Defender Antivirus than those who, for example, used Firefox for web browsing and Thunderbird for email. It should be noted that this latter group received more protection from security options built into programs not created by Microsoft, such as Chrome Browser Security and Thunderbird’s Spam Filter, than they did with Windows Defender Antivirus.
For those interested, here are links to the studies referenced here:
https://www.safetydetectives.com/blog/windows-defender-vs-antiviruses-is-defender-enough-for-you/
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/is-windows-defender-good-enough-to-protect-your-pc-by-itself
Despite this, both sources still praise Microsoft Defender Antivirus as a whole, especially when compared to where the title was just a few years ago. But those same awards seem to come with an asterisk: Simply put, if you prefer to use the software that came with your Windows PC and/or programs made by Microsoft (and these are plentiful, including Word, Outlook, Edge, and more), Windows Defender Antivirus will be a great free option to protect your system. But if you prefer non-Microsoft-based programs (like Chrome, Thunderbird, LibraOffice, etc.), it might be better to look elsewhere.
Having said that, keep in mind that most of the tests are done by people who work in technology, so they test qualities in the software that most users won’t deal with on a daily basis. Therefore the information provided should be taken with caution. After all, no antivirus is foolproof, no matter who makes it and how much you spend on it, and in the end, smart and secure computing options always keep you free of infections or threats – a good antivirus and anti-malware scanner just add extra layers of Incentives if these other approaches fail, which sometimes happens to everyone.
For more information about Windows Defender Antivirus, including full system specifications and capabilities, and download and installation instructions, visit the following URL: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compuate-security
Connect with Eyal Goldshmid @egoldshmid @yahoo.com