Windows Defender is also detecting fewer false positives than it used to, at least in AV-Test's evaluations. While they detected either 99.9% or 100% of widespread malware almost all the time, they missed zero-day bugs 10 times over the 26-month period. The other two free products we've reviewed for this round, Avast Free Antivirus and AVG AntiVirus Free, share the same malware-detection engine with each other and were behind Windows Defender. Next up is Bitdefender, which got all the widespread malware in those two-plus years but missed some zero-day bugs in three instances. Not all these brands mentioned offer free antivirus software, but of those who do, Kaspersky comes out on top with perfect scores. Those scores put Windows Defender, once the worst joke in antivirus protection, ahead of well-known brands like Avast, AVG, Avira and McAfee, and just behind Bitdefender and Trend Micro.ĭefender still isn't as good as industry leaders Kaspersky or Norton, which detected all malware in all of AV-Test's 2018, 2019 and (so far) 2020 evaluations, but it's finally within shouting distance. Many users will not even notice that Defender is working until they're subjected to an attack. Windows Defender: Antivirus protectionĮven if you do nothing to a new Windows 8.1 or 10 computer, Windows Defender is already there protecting your machine. Hence the official renaming of the enterprise product to 'Microsoft Defender.' Microsoft tells us the consumer product will continue to be called Windows Defender Antivirus. There's already a beta version of Microsoft Defender for Macs in enterprise deployments, and Microsoft says it is working on Microsoft Defender for Android and Linux. Microsoft plans to expand Defender's coverage to other platforms. On the other hand, it still lacks things that third-party antivirus makers add as enticements, such as a file shredder and VPN access. But if you take into account the entire Windows Security apparatus, Defender comes with a firewall, drive-level encryption (in Windows 10 Pro and up), limited parental controls and even a game mode. There are no upgrades available to augment protection or add features. What you see with Windows Defender is what you get. Windows Defender comes with Windows 8.1 and 10 and can be disabled only by the installation of a third-party antivirus program, or, if you're brave, editing the Windows Registry.

Windows Defender: What's covered and upgrade options

Windows defender for windows 11