ANTenna Blog -- Security

Microsoft's free antivirus and security suite, Microsoft Security Essentials, releases today, sort of. Incredibly, while millions of users have anticipated the release, only 75,000 downloads will be permitted.

The decision to limit the number of Microsoft Security Essentials downloads to 75,000 betas when the suite's site goes live today, may be an attempt to avoid the sorts of download overload problems the company has suffered from in the past.

But 75,000 downloads -- not clear at posting if this is a daily download allowance -- isn't close to being a drop in the bucket of potential users, much less the universe of Windows users, much less, for that matter, the number of hackers wanting an early look or tech journalists wanting a scoop.

No word yet on when the download site will go live, but my guess is that the quota will be consumed a second or two later.

If you are one of the 75,000 lucky (maybe) ones, let me know what you think.

And if you do get a copy, my advice from yesterday still holds: check out Microsoft Security Essentials on a test-bed before you move it to the front lines of your business's security.