Microsoft’s newest operating system comes with a full-featured anti-virus product

Jan 23, 2013 06:57 GMT  ·  By

Even though Microsoft’s Security Essentials has failed to receive AV-Test’s certification after the December 2012 anti-virus tests, the built-in Windows 8 security software is one of the best choices on the market, product reviewer Which? said.

The company has performed its very own security tests and discovered that Windows Defender, the reinvented Security Essentials version integrated into Microsoft’s Windows 8, provides better protection than all third-party security products on the market. In addition, it’s completely free as it’s being delivered as part of the operating system.

While test details remain fairly elusive for the time being, Which? writes that Windows 8 comes with an “outstanding” security tool that has “great protection against malware.”

AV-Test, on the other hand, revealed that Security Essentials blocked only 78 percent of the malware, even though the industry average stands at 92 percent. What’s more, the app recorded an overall score of 10 points of a maximum of 18, with only two other products getting a worse score.