I couldn't resist it. It was free. Even though it was a Microsoft product, I just had to try it out. As mentioned here in a couple of my blogs, Microsoft's Anti-Spyware (MAS) software is available free for a short time. So, I just had to try it out and see if my Spybot-Search and Destroy was better. I had every reason to believe it was.
The early reviews by a couple of other users like myself sounded favorable. A new review by PC World, just out today, also gave it good notices. In reading their review, I felt like I was reading my own review as we both found many of the same things.
Downloading it was a breeze, although Microsoft says that you need to verify first that you have a genuine Microsoft Operating System. You can skip that part, which I did, because my system is genuine, but I don't want to give Microsoft the satisfaction of knowing that. Installation was also easy and right after installation, it automatically ran a complete systems check.
I should mention at this point that just before I installed it, I updated my Spybot software and ran a systems check with it. I did this both on my desktop computer and on my laptop. Spybot found no infections on my desktop and two new infections on my laptop. I removed them both.
On my desktop, MAS found three threats previously undetected by Spybot. One was adware and the other was spyware done on my IE explorer as a plug-in. They were removed. The other were 106 Kazaa entries in my registry, which I found strange at first since I don't use Kazaa, but rather Kazaa Light. Then I figured out that these were fake entries done by Kazaa Light to fool Kazaa into believing I was using the real Kazaa product. So, I left those in place.
When I ran the same scans on my laptop, I didn't find the Kazaa entries as it is not on the laptop, but I found the same two adware/spyware found on my desktop plus one additional spyware. I took care of them also. MAS, like Spybot, immunizes you from existing threats. But, better than Spybot, MAS goes out in the middle of the night to Microsoft's web site to see if there are any updates for the program...then it scans your system, whether there is a new update or not. Very nice.
One thing I didn't like was that after I removed the IE plugin that was really spyware, it reset my browser's home page to MSN. I had to go back and reset my home page. Also, MAS does not check for other browser's possible spyware. By other browsers, I mean Opera, Firefox and Netscape.
There are some good things about Microsoft's new software, especially the free part. I would give it a try, if I were you, but keep Spybot around to check also. For more info, I encourage you to read the PC World Review at:
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,119300,00.asp
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