Microsoft Security Essentials good but not enough to shake up rivals

According to Thompson, MSE does not provide 100 percent protection and itself could become a target for malware writers who, if they manage to penetrate it, would potentially have a large pool of victims to target.

Agrees David Emm of Kaspersky's. "We're not immediately concerned; if you look at the developments in the last 10 years or more in anti-virus software it has gone through several iterations. These days, protection for consumers is a lot more than merely signature recognition. It is a lot more than strictly anti-virus (AV), a specific AV offering doesn't encompass all of that and clearly there is still a market place for other people," Emm said.

According to Emm, though MSE will not be "closing avenues for (commercial security suite) vendors," its launch, however, most certainly redefines the rules in internet security industry. ""It would be naïve to say it (MSE) doesn't have any implications. But it will depend, I think, on how significant the impact will be. It might impact on sales of the purely anti-virus portion and there is less scope to sell a vanilla anti-virus product," he said.

In conclusion, MSE will not have other anti-virus software makers quaking in their boots anytime soon. "It (MSE) won't be the application that puts Symantec or McAfee out of business," said Andrew Storms, the director of security operations at nCircle Network Security. "...Microsoft still has to prove itself in this arena. Take, for example, Windows Defender, which has been free. It's not necessarily the best anti-spyware product available."

However, as the name clearly indicates, "Security Essentials" does not claim or try to protect a PC user against every possible threat. But then, no product does.

MSE is nothing more than a basic defence against basic malware – the stuff that is prominent enough to succumb to signature identification. And also unlike software offered by Symantec or the like, MSE is not a money-spinning venture: that is clear from the free, perpetual licence.

All that Microsoft seems focused on doing right now is woo users who do not use full-featured security software by offering them something easier, lighter and less intrusive: a security client stripped down to the basics, with a "so-simple-it-hurts" interface. With no nagging and free updates for life, it is a pretty compelling proposition to not only consumers consumers but also smaller businesses as well who know they are getting a "high-quality, excellent anti-malware product" for free.

MSE has been launched in eight languages and in 19 countries - the UK, Ireland, the US, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore and Microsoft said the software will be available for use in more countries soon.