Replies

With MSE running on a variety of desktop and notebook systems – single and dual core, XP, Vista (just so I can have something to complain about) and Win7, I can safely say that MSE is the most efficient of all the free AVs I’ve tried. It’s also the most efficient compared to all the trial/paid versions of McAfee, NAV and several other fee-based AV products I’ve tried. AVG was real good a few years ago, but it’s gotten so bloated and stodgy that I had to abandon it.

That said, MSE has missed a couple of nasties I could have done without – I hope they can improve detection accuracy a bit. As far as the $10 vs. free comparison, I try to run what I imagine most of the people who have me work on their systems would want, and they almost invariably prefer the free stuff – not so much because it’s free but because they don’t have to fuss with renewals, online transactions, etc. to keep it running consistently. (Most of my “customers” are dinosaurs. :-0)

All in all, it beats the other freebies I’ve tried and with rare exception, you can’t beat the price.