I just downloaded and installed the Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta1
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu.../download.mspx

Worked really well. It would be great is some other members tried it and we can see how well it works.

On my system it detected 5 registry entries related to spyware that I thought was removed from my system.

Post your experience with this product.

KUB

Update:

Seems to have lots of great features. You can change all ur browser settings, monitor processes, ie add-ons. Also has real-time protection.

Please post updates on this tool if you run into anything.

It's decent, but I'm already having major issues with it. Spyware folks are already all over it. Mine stopped showing running processes three days in...which of course is essential to diagnosis.

I will say its scanning and removal engiens are kick ass, though.

And when it's working, the running processes section rocks, because it gives you very detailed information on processes.

it auto updates daily for me .

Yes mine too ... it updates on a specified time for me. ... but it doesnt detect tracking cookies.

It is good, but does not detect nearly as much as norton 2k5 or Ad aware pro

I have all 3 of those programs running on my computer and they work well together

How many ‘vendors’ can ‘convince’ Microsoft to allow their adware/spyware? Some interesting articles can be found at the following websites (a paragraph or two from each one immediately follows the link):

http://www.pchell.com/reviews/msantispyware.shtml
“Out of curiosity, I ran Ad-Aware SE and SpyBot Search and Destroy after MS Antispyware said it was completely spyware free. Ad-Aware still found 145 instances of registry entries, cookies, and files remaining that needed to be quarantined, while SpyBot found 109 problems remaining.�

“Microsoft's Antispyware utility is a solid start for the giant software company; however it didn’t completely remove several threats and left Hotbar completely intact. As expected, Weatherbug was also left on the machine. However, its failure to remove some programs put it currently a notch below Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE Personal in my opinion.�


http://www.techdirt.com/articles/200...044223_F.shtml
“While certain adware companies have been looking to bribe anti-spyware companies into taking them off the list, Broadband Reports wondered how Microsoft would respond to such an approach. Already, the company faced just such a question, as the anti-spyware software identifies Weatherbug as a possible threat. Weatherbug, of course, used to be a big adware provider, but claims that they've reformed from their earlier ways and no longer do such things. As such, they were peeved about the classification -- even if it's described as a small threat. Microsoft quickly backed down and agreed to remove Weatherbug from the list.�


http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1749409,00.asp
“A Microsoft spokeswoman said the beta product included a vendor dispute-resolution mechanism to deal with complaints from third-party companies.

In the case of WeatherBug, the dispute-resolution process paid immediate dividends. On Friday, the company received a response from Microsoft with the good news that the current signatures for Minibug will be removed.�

At current Microsoft anti-spyware is a repackaged application they purchased elsewhere.
It's provided as-is while Microsoft is working to update and enhance it.

If it doesn't remove some things, blame the original developers rather than Microsoft...

Of course many anti spyware tools (especially free versions) tend to have a lot of false positives in order to scare people into spending money on the full product.
As Microsoft AFAIK has no intention of making money out of their product, they don't have a need for such shady tactics.

CounterSpy and Microsoft Antispyware are both based on Giant's anti-spyware, yet CounterSpy will find things the Microsoft version will not.

Shady tactics are the backbone of Microsoft's financial status.