Good news Microsoft Windows Insiders: Build 14965 brings back third party security suites!
It’s not easy to be a Windows 10 Insider. It’s one of those lifestyle choices that makes you immensely happy one day, and incredibly irritated the next. Nevertheless, it is a choice taken in good conscience, while being well aware of the fact that things may break one way or another, often unexpectedly.
This is also what makes Windows 10 such an amazing operating system, and one that is unapologetically candid about the fact that it is a constant work in progress, and that it will never stop being updated and grow in features, stability and security.
The last few updates have brought features that shed light on the upcoming Creators Update, such as Painter 3D, and new Windows Ink features.
Alas, as previously noted, there are times when being a Windows 10 Insider makes you want to pull your hair off your skull.
The past three builds prior to 14965, namely build 14951, 14955, and 14959, have been particularly hard to deal with for Insiders who really, REALLY like to use their own third party security suite (pointing at self), rather than Windows Defender.
By Microsoft’s admission, third party security software has not been playing well with the above mentioned Insider builds, with issues ranging from slowing the system down, interference with Internet connection, general instability, and also the inability to upgrade to a newer build. This has caused Insiders to need to uninstall their third party security suite, and stick with Windows Defender for a while.
While experience may vary, there are some considerations to make as we delve into our experience with Microsoft’s homegrown security software: for one thing, it is true that a security suite, any security suite, is only as effective as the user’s own policies, which is to say that no automated policies are foolproof, short of a total system lock-down, including Internet access. Another consideration is that hardware is just as important as the security software that runs on it, by which token, older PCs may often be still at risk of infection, and susceptible to attacks, regardless of the level of software protection, due to the fact that many modern security suites make use of built-in hardware-based security features, like TPM, Smart Cards, hard drive encryption, and other technologies.
The issue with Windows Defender is that, although it is constantly improving at a pace matching the rest of Windows 10, its ability to detect threats still falls behind a number of major third party alternatives, particularly BitDefender and Kaspersky, notably the highest rated security suites available among a relatively short list.
In Microsoft’s defense, the experience was not a negative one, even if the usage is typically safe-for-work, with browsing sessions normally limited to news sites, tech blogs, and drivers download URL’s.
With that said, we are finally glad that as of build 14965, we can finally reinstall and use our security suite of choice, which should make a lot of Insiders very happy!
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