Microsoft Security Essentials Now Free For Small Businesses

If you didn’t read “The Microsoft Partner SMB Community Blog” then you might have missed the announcement that small business as soon as early October 2010 will be able to legally install and use Microsoft Security Essentials on up to 10 (commercial) PCs at no cost. In case you didn’t know the current EULA included with Microsoft Security Essentials does not allow for commercial use, Microsoft will adjust the EULA to reflect the announcement. Click on image to enlarge Microsoft Security Essentials lacks centralized administration, If you need to secure more than 10 PCs you need to use Forefront.

About Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Source: Microsoft Security Essentials Home Page

My Take

For a free product Microsoft Security Essentials does an excellent job as an AV product that gets out of the users way and consumes little resources. With this in mind, Small Business usually do not employ on site staff and due to the low amount of users centralized administration may be an overkill. Also, it would not be far-off to consider Microsoft Security Essentials a stepping stone in to Microsoft business oriented AV solution Forefront for those businesses that want more control.

Links

Microsoft Security Essentials Home Page Microsoft Partner SMB Community Blog

anti virus, microsoft, microsoft security essentials — Sep 23, 2010