14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has made available Service Pack 1 for Forefront Client Security as of August 26, 2008. The service pack is served exclusively through the Microsoft Update infrastructure and has not been released to the Download Center. In this context, the SP1 bits can only be accessed from the security solution, with Microsoft informing that Forefront Client Security users will be prompted to deploy the SP1 upgrade via MU. According to the Redmond company, with SP1, Forefront Client Security is designed to deliver agent protection tailored to the home editions Vista SP1 and even Windows XP SP3.
"We are releasing Microsoft Forefront Client Security Service Pack 1 (SP1), which supports: agent protection on Windows Server 2008 – Server and Core; server role support and protection for Windows Server 2008 (except Core, which is Client only); agent protection and server roles on Hyper-V; agent protection on cluster servers; agent protection on Home editions of Windows Vista or later, Windows XP SP2 or later, Windows 2000 SP4, and Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later; and NAP Integration," revealed a member of the Forefront Client Security Service team.
The Redmond giant indicated that existing Forefront Client Security users should get ready for automatic prompts to update to SP1. As Microsoft Update is the sole source of SP1, testing the service pack involves downloading and deploying the Forefront Client Security evaluation software made available free of charge by Microsoft. The download link for the trial release is available at the bottom of this article, and following installation Forefront Client Security will automatically be served SP1 through MU.
"Forefront Client Security helps organizations better protect users against malware and spyware across multiple Microsoft platforms – from small businesses to large enterprises. Forefront Client Security supports enterprise deployments of more than 10,000 clients from a single Forefront Client Security Console. Forefront Client Security Enterprise Manager provides administrators the ability to centrally manage multiple Forefront Client Security deployments from a single server and provides alerts and reporting for Forefront Client Security agents in the entire enterprise," the Forefront Client Security Service team member added.
Microsoft Forefront Client Security Evaluation Edition is available for download here.