It appears that Microsoft is going to release the final version of its free security solution Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 on December 17, 2010. Back in July, the team had published a first beta of this new antivirus version. In mid November, a second beta was released, however commonly judged as Release Candidate.
In the meantime, development has been finished, so the final Security Essentials 2.0 is going to be published soon. The update brings a set of new features that aim at protecting your computer even better.
For example, while installing the software, you are asked whether you want to turn the Windows Firewall on or off. Furthermore, Security Essentials 2.0 adds a protection against attacks from the web — if you’re using Internet Explorer, that is. Another new feature is the updated anti-malware system that detects and removes bad programs better, and is said to be faster while doing its job.
Lastly, Microsoft has integrated protection against network attacks. You can though only use it with Windows 7 and Vista, as Windows XP does not ship with the necessary Windows Filtering Platform.