Choosing anti-virus software

If you’ve had a computer or two for any length of time, anti-virus software is sure to come up as a topic of conversation. I’ve used a whole bunch of them: McAfee, Norton, AVG, MS Defender, etc. Some were so bad that they slowed the computer down to a crawl. Others got you hooked through a free trial period, and then you discovered a high price to continue with the software.

As my employer insists on up-to-date software in order to work remotely using a personal PC, I had to find anti-virus software that worked and wasn’t a hindrance. I asked around and settled on MS Security Essentials.

The advantage of this program is that it’s free (yay!) and regularly maintained by Microsoft. This helps immensely when staying protected against the various forms of malware, spyware, and hackers in general. Since many of the security loopholes are in the operating system itself, I feel at least some degree of confidence knowing that Microsoft is trying to patch vulnerabilities in their operating systems on an ongoing basis. Without regular updates, your Windows computer will be vulnerable.

Another point worth asking is why there’s such a difference in vulnerabilities between Microsoft and Apple. I’ve had people state that so few people use Apple that it’s not worth the hacker’s time to attack this operating system. I’m not so sure that this argument still applies. There are plenty of Mac users out there, and certain industries, like freelance work, use them almost exclusively.

Is the Apple OS just that much better?

I’m not a big Apple fan. Their prices are too high for what you get (in my opinion), but a stable OS is very important. Linux remains on the periphery of mainstream use, but that’s another OS that’s stable.

My work requires a Windows environment, so I’m stuck with having anti-virus software. I’ve found MS Security Essentials works well and is user-friendly. In fact, I’d recommend it to others that are searching for this type of software. You can download it from the Microsoft website.