Chester Wisniewski of Sophoslabs posted that in a test done by the labs 8 out of 10 viruses affected Windows 7. He wrote in his post “Windows 7 disappointed just like earlier version of Windows. You still need to run anti-virus on Windows 7, the new OS is no cure for the virus blues.” However, Microsoft didn’t like the results and called the findings biased.

Paul Cooke of Microsoft’s Windows Security Blog wrote “So while I’m not a fan of companies sensationalizing findings about Windows 7 in order to sell more of their own software, I nevertheless agree with them that you still need to run anti-virus software on Windows 7”

Paul also called the test unofficial and findings non-conclusive. He then offered a list of all the security features included in Windows 7 like User Account Control (UAC), Kernel Patch Protection, Windows Service hardening, Address Space Layout Randomization, Data Execution Prevention and SmartScreen. But with this long list of security features also he insisted “users of any computer, on any platform, should run anti-virus software, including those running Windows 7.”

We don’t agree with any platform, but you definitely need anti-virus and malware protection if you are running any Windows platform. Like we said before if you are running Windows without anti-virus and malware protection you are basically sending out open invitation to every crook on the Internet.