Windows

[bmcecosse]

Is Windows Defender enough security ?

[panky]

Not sure but I use Mcafee just to be safe.
Avast is supposed to be good and it's a free download.

[Trickydicky]

I was reading an article in PC Pro last month regarding AV products. They summed up there results with this statement,

"Opt for Kaspersky Internet Security, Norton Security, Eset Smart Security or Avast Free Antivirus and feel confident that your PC will be virus free-although you can aid the cause by behaving intelligently and adopting good security practices yourself"

There top product was Kaspersky with Avast coming as the recommended package. Kaspersky is a paid for product (£20 per year) with Avast being free.
While Windows Defender is good for keeping your PC virus free when just browsing the web and staying on known "safe" websites, if you are going outside of these boundarys then it is not so good as the others.
Windows Defender did not score well but bear in mind that to test the products they are throwing all known viruses,malware and root kits at the PC to test them.

[Boomlander]

Is Windows Defender enough security ?

Fine for normal use - never had any problems from viruses or malware.

[M25VAN]

Are you looking for a free option? Check with your bank Mr BMC. Some of them give AV software FOC. As a starter, Barclays offer free Kaspersky with internet banking..

[bmcecosse]

I find Defender has been fine - and the the others just seem to slow everything down. But if Def is enough - how on earth do the others still manage to sell their products ? I do also have (free) Spybot on the laptop - but it never seems to find anything amiss ! So - either it's useless - or there is nothing wrong to find....

[irmscher]

I use Norton and havent had any problems yet

[SteveClem]

My wife says switch to Apple.I have no opinion either way except that if I disagree she might hit me.

[Tea]

As mentioned defender is fine for use when going on safe sites, such as bbc.co.uk, Microsoft, eBay, ect. But a huge number of people use not such legit sites for streaming and downloading and so need a little more protection. For such sites the free avast works fine as do a few others.

[bmcecosse]

Noted - thanks !

[SteveClem]

'She' says HSBC provide 'rapport' for internet banking,but has had no problems since switching from Microsoft to Macs 4 years ago. Apparently much better for photography as well. Says she can't understand why anyone uses anything apart from Apple stuff after all the Microsoft bugs she put up with for years.

[warweezil]

'She' says HSBC provide 'rapport' for internet banking,but has had no problems since switching from Microsoft to Macs 4 years ago. Apparently much better for photography as well. Says she can't understand why anyone uses anything apart from Apple stuff after all the Microsoft bugs she put up with for years.

Have to agree, coming from a windoze 3.11 background (and a 14.4 modem) the iMac has been a revelation, getting on close to 3 years and I have yet to encounter a crash/hang/other failure .

Apart from being an awesome xmas gift (and there I was thinking it was just the new monitor I had wanted) its really been a great experience, and, if I really want to spend some time tinkering with the bits... I have my trusty Suse Linux box to keep my brain from turning to mush.

[Meghna]

I have window 8 and it doesn't require anti virus....it has inbuilt anti virus still I have install AVG and till date I have not faced any issue...

[les]

Something positive about windows 8 ------ I don't believe it!

[GBond]

Historically, odd numbered versions of Windows have been good but even numbered ones have been awful. (98, Vista, But Windows 10 is coming at the end of the month (and as a free upgrade as well) so there's high hopes for that. Shouldn't require an anti virus.
In 7 I run Microsoft Security Essentials and haven't had any problems. Every couple of months or so I download some free malware/adware cleaner with good reviews and also run Revo Uninstaller to remove crap I don't need. Computer is over 5 years old now and still runs OK, and I do plan to go to 10 once it's available so I'll let you know how that goes.

[Trickydicky]

Every version of Windows since Vista has come with a version of Microsoft Security Essentials installed, it is your own decision whether you install your own preferred AV program.
Windows XP was a great operating system, it was built on the Windows 2000 code which itself was based on the NT code.
Vista was built from the ground up and you can judge for yourself how popular it was from user reviews.
Windows 7 was built on the Vista code and took the best bits of Vista, coupled with Microsoft listening to what users actually wanted and voila you have Windows 7 a great O/S.
Windows 8 was rushed in to try and capture a share of the tablet market with no thought to the consumers who did not want a touch screen tablet, (hence the update to add a start button)
Windows 10 again has taken the best bits of Windows 8 added a few nice touches, (Microsoft actually again did some consumer research to find out what people wanted and liked)

As a side note the best upgrade you can buy is one of these, http://www.cclonline.com/category/718/S ... ves-SSDs-/
I fitted one to my laptop last year and the difference is like night and day

[les]

I'm still trying to find the best bits of windows 8, ----- maybe if I keep looking.

[GBond]

I'm still trying to find the best bits of windows 8, ----- maybe if I keep looking.

Compared to Windows 7, Windows 8 does boot up much faster.

And that's about it, at least from my perspective.

[mike.perry]

What happened to Windows 9?

[olderisbetter]

I used to have spybot and AVG TDSSkiller on my old laptops but since i have used windows 7 ultimate edition i have no problems, and as Trickydicky points out the SSD hard drive is amazing as an upgrade, my normal thing with computers is to back up all my info and work to an external drive or disc, then if i have a virus or a drive fail i have a back up at worst.