VanguardLH wrote:

Lynn McGuire wrote:

´Microsoft to end updates to Windows 7ÿs free AV software, Security
Essentials¡

https://www.computerworld.com/articl...ssentials.html

´When support for Windows 7 ends on Jan. 14, Microsoft will also stop
providing new malware signatures for its home-grown Security Essentials
software.¡

Ok, this is not good. Microsoft is playing hardball here.

I am not impressed with any of the other antivirus products.

Lynn

Where's the loss? Defender what NOT an anti-virus program, so the
article's title is not only misleading but incorrect. Defender was
nothing but a spyware detector in Windows 7 (and earlier in its
precursors). Not until Windows 8 did Defender become an anti-virus
program. It was worthless in Windows 7. In pre-8 Windows, you should
have never relied on Defender to protect you against malware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Defender
"Before Windows 8, Windows Defender only protected users against
spyware."

That's why Security Essentials became superfluous in Windows 8, and
later. Defender became and AV, so Security Essentials became
superfluous. Obviously anything of or bundled in Windows 7 that doesn't
extend into later versions of Windows will die for support when Windows
7 is no longer supported; else, continuing to support Windows 7-only
products means support was not ended.

Microsoft's anti-malware and anti-spyware products before Windows 8 were
far too limp to be considered effective solutions. Almost every 3rd
party solution, even free ones, were far superior. Microsoft's
solutions pre-8 did have a high rating for disinfecting malware, but
that was because it didn't much malware, and what it detected was old
and disinfection was well known.