Fao Chris/techie Ref Security Packages

[Prudie]

Have been given a new laptop, lucky me - HP with Win 10. Anyway also been gifted a McAfee Livesave premium disk with it that I haven't yet installed.
My question to Chris or others in the know - what's your opinion on the best current security to use? I've managed pretty well with MSE free version and malwarebytes so far. I thought McAfee sucks performance out of other stuff??? Someone mentioned it may have Defender installed already too.
What would you go with?

[Togo]

W10 comes with Defender and a sandbox security package that is perfect for normal everyday usage. Just do the upgrades and scans as you do with all third party bolt on security add ons. I have tried McAfee,Norton, Avast the lot. They all plague you to death with dire warnings and pop ups "advising" you of new and exciting ways of handing over you pc to their greedy control. I would not touch it myself.

[Buenchico]

Lots of technically-minded ABers seem to be happy enough to stick with Windows Defender but my own preference is to seek something better. For me, that means Avast, simply because it's the only software that I trust not to slow my elderly computers to a crawl. (Every computer I've ever had Microsoft's own security software has experienced problems with the updating element of it, MsMpEng.exe, hogging resources. I used to use AVG but then found similar problems with it).

Other security programs seem to have varying performance over the years when it comes to 'resource hogging'. For example, Norton used to be notorious for it, then got a lot better with later editions but now seems to be getting reports of the latest version slowing some computers to a crawl. McAfee has also been 'a bit up and down' over the years with the resource-hugging issue but the reviews of 'LiveSafe' seem to suggest that it's not a problem. e.g. this well-respected review site says "Minimal resource drain":
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/software/security-software/mcafee-livesafe-1277104/review
and this (equally well-respected) one says "The software doesn't seem to put much of a resource hit on a PC" and "It didn't slow the AV-Test machines at all during their more wide-reaching usage tests":
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review/internet-security-suites-software/mcafee-livesafe-2015-review-3583637/

So, given that you've not got to pay for it, McAfee LiveSafe looks to be a good option to me. It further has the additional attraction of being able to be used on your Android phone, iPad or similar without extra charge. My only concern might be that it will eventually ask you to pay for an upgrade to the latest edition. If you've used the free online secure storage that comes with it, that might leave you feeling forced into a corner if you don't want to lose that facility.

All in all, though, I'd probably go with McAfee LiveSafe if I was in your (fortunate) position.

[Prudie]

Thanks both - Chris while you're about can I add an extra query. I also have been given a year's subscription of Office 365 (not installed either) however I can get full MS home professional, or whatever it's called, from work at a really really low price. What would you do if like me you wanted the MS package, especially proper Outlook email. Looks like after a year I'd have to do something else with 365?

[goodgoalie]

Unless you need something really sophisticated, I'd use OpenOffice - I've used it for years with no problems:
https://www.openoffice.org/

[Buenchico]

Office 365 will get you tied into an expensive annual subscription.

If you REALLY need/want Microsoft Office then go for a version which only requires a single payment.

However, I'm with GG on this one. OpenOffice will do everything that Microsoft Office can in terms of word-processing, spreadsheets, etc. (One hint though if you do decide to go with OpenOffice: Change the the default formats used by the 'Save' option, so that the program automatically uses Microsoft formats. Simple instructions here: https://helpdeskgeek.com/office-tips/set-openof%EF%AC%81ce-org-to-save-in-microsoft-of%EF%AC%81ce-format-by-default/ )

For 'proper' email, simply use Thunderbird instead of Outlook:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/thunderbird/

[Prudie]

Ok so that's made my mind up, I'll get it through work (it's something ridiculous like £9.95). I live on MS Outlook Mon-Fri and that's what I want at home.