The built-in Microsoft Defender protection in Windows ensures that your computer is as secure as possible. Many other (paid) options fare worse, although the Defender has a slightly larger impact on performance.

Microsoft Defender is the safest option to protect your Windows computer. This is according to the latest tests from AV Comparatives. Defender was confronted with 260 realistic malware attacks. Think of drive-by downloads or links to malware like you would find in a phishing email. The defender was able to stop them.

Microsoft’s built-in antivirus isn’t the only one. Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, F-Secure, G-Data, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, and Total Defense performed equally well. F-Secure and especially Trend Micro have had quite a few false positives. For its part, Defender only spoke up when it was really necessary, just like Kaspersky and Bitdefender.

Less secure with Norton

It is striking that Norton and McAfee could not submit an error-free report. However, both solutions are being rammed down consumers’ throats ad nauseam like bloatware on many brand new laptops. According to this recent test, using malware samples from February and March, those who responded to a laptop vendor’s advertisement and turned on Norton instead of Microsoft Defender, for example, were less well protected than users who immediately removed Norton. TotalAV is the most insecure solution in the test.

The numbers are consistent with testing by AVTest, which, like AV Comparatives, often publishes objective test results on antivirus solutions. We previously wrote in more detail that purely in terms of virus protection, the free integrated Windows Defender is more than good enough. If you decide to use a different solution, you will in the best case pay more money for equivalent protection or, as the tests show, in the worst case you will pay for a less watertight antivirus solution.

heavier load

That’s not to say Windows Defender is completely perfect. Both AV Comparatives and AV Test find that Microsoft’s solution puts a heavier load on PCs than the competition. That said, things like program launch times are slowed down more with Defender than with other solutions. You won’t notice it on a reasonably modern system, but the effects will be noticeable on older computers or PCs with a very modest hardware configuration. In such a case, a solution like Bitdefender or Kaspersky Endpoint or Small Office Security offers equivalent protection with slightly less impact on the system.