14 DAY TRIAL // New updated versions of Windows Defender are available for download. Both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Defender have been republished yesterday, March 13, 2007. Windows Defender will offer protection against pop-ups, slow performance, security threats and potentially unwanted software. Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 2 are the only operating systems supported by Windows Defender. With this release, Microsoft no longer supports Windows 2000.
"This is the most current release of Windows Defender. If Windows Defender informed you that an update is available, you are running an older version. We encourage you to upgrade to this version. If you have version 1.1.1592.0, you must first manually uninstall Windows Defender before you can install this newer version," informed Microsoft.
This release features a revamped graphical user interface that has been redesigned in accordance with customer input. In this regard, Microsoft has labored to simplify common tasks but also to create an adaptive alert system with levels that directly reflect the severity of the threat.
A new anti-malware engine has been integrated into this release, and therefore, Windows Defender can now detect and remove an extended array of threats. The Redmond Company has additionally introduced smaller volumes of delta definition updates, reducing the updates download frequency together with the users' exposure window.
Microsoft has also crippled Windows Defender in such a manner that the tool will only remove critical threats from machines that are running non-genuine copies of Windows XP. "Low, Medium and High threats will be detected, but not removed unless your copy of Windows is genuine," Microsoft added.
Windows Defender was tested by Softpedia as being 100% Clean and is available for download here.