10 Microsoft Antivirus Alternatives for Windows XP

Microsoft announced on April 8 2013 that they will stop their services for Windows XP which is 12 years old. They announced the retirement plan of Windows XP on 8th April, 2013 and claimed that they will no longer provide security updates and any kind of other assistance for this operating system after 8th April, 2014. However, the security soft wares providers decided not to stop supporting Windows XP after this date and they will keep on making security programs to protect Windows XP even after this deadline. When Microsoft announced the date of retirement of Windows XP, a 12 years old window and claimed that they will not be providing security to Windows XP anymore after 8th April, 2014, means the system which is being operated on Windows XP will be under online attacks all the time then the people for whom switching to windows 7 or 8 was out of question got worried and started looking out for alternative solutions. This article is about to give information to such people that which programs will still be providing security support to Windows XP and also how they can secure their systems with them.  The best news related to this retirement of Windows XP is that security manufacturers have decided to continue providing updates to their software for as long as they want. Even some companies have promised to keep Windows XP secured with their security soft wares for 2 years. At the end of this article, you will see 10 alternatives for Windows XP with which you can secure your operating system from online attacks of viruses. Nevertheless, there are few tips to secure your system. Use Alternative Programs to Microsoft Antivirus for Windows XP In order to keep your system secured from virus or malware attacks, you should be careful about your software that is provided by Windows XP operating system. Try not to use Internet Explorer as it's a product of Windows XP and since Microsoft has decided to stop sending security updates to Windows XP so there is high probability that your system can be at risk if you keep on using Internet Explorer. So you can switch to other alternative internet browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, which will provide the best security if they are up to date. Another advice about the system protection is to change your mail program from Outlook Express to some other. Outlook Express is also a part of Windows XP and correspondingly it will also be no longer receiving security updates so you should find some new alternative related to mail program. The most famous mail program nowadays is known as Thunderbird which will keep on getting security updates for Windows XP for a while to come. 10 Alternative Security Programs As far as switching to alternative programs was concerned, it is also important to keep your security suites up to date. Although antivirus programs can never take a place of security updates for Windows XP but still they can keep your system strong enough to resist any malware attack. Here are 10 Microsoft alternative antiviruses that will continue providing security updates for Windows XP. Qihoo 360 AVG Bit 9 Malware Bytes Avast Kaspersky Lab McAfee Bit defender Symantec Norton 360 K9 Web Protection Now, we will explain every alternative one by one in order to make you understand suitable for your system. 1- Qihoo 360 Qihoo 360 is the best security software for online activities on internet. Users of this software are happy with it because it keeps your system safe from online attacks of viruses. The two best security products of Qihoo 360 are 360 Safe Guard and 360 Anti-Virus. 360 Safe Guard protects your system from malwares while browsing and it is the best solution for internet security and the optimization of system. 360 Anti-Virus is software which protects your computer from viruses by scanning multiple engines. 2- AVG AVG is a very good anti-virus which keeps your system safe from any kind of malware. It blocks viruses, spyware and any malware. It also provides protection of links because it scans web, Facebook or Twitter or any other social networking site from where the chances of viruses are very big. It can also shred the files to prevent snooping. It has a built-in online shield that provides you protection for harmful downloads from internet. It keeps your data safe in case of any malware attack. As far as spams are concerned, it stops them from being effective and thus keeping your system clean from spams. It has a strong firewall which makes sure that no one can hack your computer and important things like passwords or credit card numbers. 3- Bit9 Bit9 is also a good program which keeps your system safe from malware. It can be used too for additional compensating security software for your system. Bit9 blocks the malwares and spam emails and keeps the system restricted to only trusted soft wares. It keeps your server secured and provides you the best protection from malwares no matter what. 4- Malware Bytes Malware Bytes is an anti-malware which protects your system from online threats your system can possibly have. People in millions are using Malware bytes for internet protection and it sure is a great software to keep your system safe from online threats. 5- Avast Avast anti-virus is also a good security software on which you can rely. Over 300 million people in the world rely on Avast because it provides your system with best security including online protection and everything you need. Besides, no end of support from Avast developers has been announced so far so they will keep on providing security updates for at least next 2 years. 6- Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky lab will continue proving support until 2018 for consumers and until 2016 for the business products. So you can install this program in your computer and keep yourself satisfied related to internet security. 7- McAfee McAfee has also not announced their date for the end of support so they will also keep on providing security updates for at least 2 years. So nothing to worry about if the Microsoft has stopped sending security updates for Windows XP. McAfee is the best program which blocks all the malwares from entering into your system and keeps your data safe. 8- Bit defender Bit defender will continue protecting your system for at least 2 years because it also has not announced their date for end of support. It can keep your system safe and sound by blocking any un wanting thing that would try to access your system. 9- Symantec Norton Symantec Norton antivirus is also the best security software you can keep in your system. No end of support from them has been announced so far. Threat explorer, risks detection and spam control are its most important features which keeps the malware away from your system. 10- K9 Web Protection K9 web protection is an internet filter which protects the kids from any unwanted content on internet. It keeps your system safe from any kind of risk. It blocks the Under 18 sites and along with that, control search on all major search engines. So it is the best internet filter you can have. They will continue providing security updates for at least 2 years. So there is always a way when all the doors are closed so you can use these alternatives for keeping your systems safe from malware attacks and any other kinds of risk. Selena Lee is a Senior Editor from Wondershare.com. Mrs. Lee has rich knowledge in the PC utility field. She mainly writes some useful tips on how to recover data, optimize data space, password protection, data protection and privacy protection. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Selena_M_Lee/1881535 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8450143