I have run Win7 RC for over 30 days without antivirus, not even Windows Defender. I browse the web daily and check email using Outlook 2007 and webmail. I even went to webpages that are "below my standards" of normal browsing just to test the systems vulnerability. I did manage to invoke some warnings that the page I'm on wants to install something bad for my computer. (ie site monitor) I chose to back out of the site each time I got a warning.After a month of this I booted to my Win XP partition and did an offline full scan of the Win 7 partition using AVG. NO VIRUSES FOUND.Taking into account the conservative nature of my browsing and computer habits I believe I can run without the need for a third party antivirus software installed. I keep autoupdates on (I review all updates before applying them) There is enough protection in Win 7 to keep my computer safe.Does Microsoft intend to release and maintain an OS (Win 7) that is so solid and safe that I am safe to use it without having to "Buy Protection"If so I say Great!!!!!!!!!! It's about time I have the right to use my own computer without fear of data loss and I can trust the people who sold me the OS to take care of me without having to buy additional third party protection.ThanksGary

Hi,with all due respect to your seemingly experimental spirit, I would vote a bit against your no-AV solution. 1) That you didn't experience attacks in over 30 days, is fine but no guarantee for the future. 2) There are enough free and satisfying AV programs (like Avira, Avast, eset, etc.), so you have to buy nothing but are safer than now. 3) At the release of Windows 7, a free MS AV software will be available: Microsoft Security Essentials (also known as "Morro"). It works great (even in it's beta stage now), quiet, and with extremy low system impact. That would be the best way letting "the OS" taking care of your security issues.Mobile AMD64 3000+, VIA Apollo K8T800 chipset, 1 G RAM, ATIRadeonMobility 9700, 20x DVDRW, C:XPSP3 (55G),D:WIN7 (25G),F:DATA (250G)

Great answerCan't wait to try it.Can I download "Morro" beta and try it??Gary

Hi Gary,unfortunately the Beta download is closed at the moment. There could be a second, more public Beta on the way to October, so stay tuned and check this site for changes in the announcements: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/market.aspx. The limitation by countries could disappear with Beta2, too.Regards. Mobile AMD64 3000+, VIA Apollo K8T800 chipset, 1 G RAM, ATIRadeonMobility 9700, 20x DVDRW, C:XPSP3 (55G),D:WIN7 (25G),F:DATA (250G)

Hi Sanmartin,first of all i completely agree with you but i also may say windows 7 is much safer against viruses,now i just had the greatest news i could eva had :D ,i dont know if im dreaming or if thats the real post(LOL) ,you just said Morro will be for free when 7 gets released? How cool is that i tot it would be paid considering its effectiveness....hey guys i just have a bad news for other AV companies(Whisper: "microsoft kills the competition")....Jks Kind regards,RR

I have run Win7 RC for over 30 days without antivirus, not even Windows Defender. I browse the web daily and check email using Outlook 2007 and webmail. I even went to webpages that are "below my standards" of normal browsing just to test the systems vulnerability. I did manage to invoke some warnings that the page I'm on wants to install something bad for my computer. (ie site monitor) I chose to back out of the site each time I got a warning.After a month of this I booted to my Win XP partition and did an offline full scan of the Win 7 partition using AVG. NO VIRUSES FOUND.Taking into account the conservative nature of my browsing and computer habits I believe I can run without the need for a third party antivirus software installed. I keep autoupdates on (I review all updates before applying them) There is enough protection in Win 7 to keep my computer safe.Does Microsoft intend to release and maintain an OS (Win 7) that is so solid and safe that I am safe to use it without having to "Buy Protection"If so I say Great!!!!!!!!!! It's about time I have the right to use my own computer without fear of data loss and I can trust the people who sold me the OS to take care of me without having to buy additional third party protection.ThanksGary FWIW, although Windows 7 is more secure than XP, the reason that you did not end up with problems is either because you didn't visit any sites where you could get viruses, worms, etc., or you were just lucky. Without approriate protection, Windows 7 is no more secure when visiting infected (or malicious) sites. You are also giving yourself no protection if someone on an infected machine e-mails you something orgives you an infected disk. The same is also true if(as is becoming more common) you stick a flash drive or even a CF/SD card for a camera ina USB port or reader on an infected machine.There is an (unfortunately) appropriate analogy to safe ____ as well. If you manage to get your machine infected, you are increasing the risk of infection for anyone who happens to trust you. The reality is that Windows based machines will always be the prime targets for the malicius types of the world simply because of marketshare. When MSSE is released, it will be a low system impact and free option(it certainly is low impact in beta form). On this one I'd really recommend not giving Windows 7 more credit than is due. Protection will be just as important unless you just want to run virtual machines or re-image drives on a regular basis and never share files or e-mail with others....Stephen