Microsoft has told beta testers of its free antivirus software that it will release the final version to the public soon. Microsoft has touted the software as a basic anti-virus, anti-spyware product that consumes less memory and disk space than commercial security suites. Microsoft urged beta testers to upgrade to the newest version of the test software to make the transition to the final as smooth as possible. Security Essentials will run on Windows XP SP2 or later, Windows Vista and Windows 7.”]
Source: https://www.csoonline.com/article/2124377/microsoft-to-ship-free-security-software.html