Several months ago Microsoft fairly quietly released a free anti-virus tool called "Microsoft Security Essentials" (MES). We've been testing it since then and are happy to report it works great! It's fairly compact and non-intrusive - unlike some other products you have to pay for. It runs on all versions of Windows - including the new Windows 7. It doesn't scan incoming e-mail but, generally speaking, most Internet Service Providers who provide e-mail hosting are scanning your mail before you even see it so that's probably not such a big issue.
Since it doesn't include any kind of central management or centralized update facility, the target audience for MES is very small businesses (one to five users) or home computers. It would be too time-consuming and difficult to manage in a medium or larger office.
The independent reviews on MES have generally been good. Here's one if you're interested:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/64365.aspx
So, if the anti-virus software on your home computer is up for renewal you might want to check out Microsoft Security Essentials and save yourself a few dollars.
You can download it at: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
As always, remember the best protection against viruses is common sense. Stay off shady websites, don't trade files online, and don't download anything unless it's from a reputable source.
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