Microsoft® Security Essentials: The No. 1 antivirus software in North America

OPSWAT Quarterly Report confirms that Microsoft Security Essentials is the No. 1 antivirus software in North America

According to a recent quarterly report by OPSWAT, Microsoft leads the bandwagon of antivirus vendors in North America. With 17.07% of market share, it has become the top selling antivirus brand, with AVG and Symantec acquiring the second and the third place with 15.63% and 14.47% share respectively. The OPSWAT report says that the popularity of Microsoft is because its products offer protection through Windows Update.

The report also states that the popularity of Microsoft is due to the free version of Microsoft Security Essentials, which was first launched in 2009. With more than 30 million downloads so far, Microsoft Security Essentials is the most commonly used antivirus in the world.

But in Global market, the numbers are different. Worldwide, avast! and AVG top the quarter, each with 12.37% market share. Avira (12.29%) holds the third position while Microsoft with 11.24% share acquires the fourth place.

In operating systems, Windows 7 usage is still on a rise in North America as well as in the world. Windows XP still retains its position as the dominant Windows OS, while Windows Vista showed a sharp decline in its popularity. With the help of detection capabilities of the OESIS Framework and registry information, OPSWAT reported Windows Live Messenger, Skype, and Yahoo! Messenger as the top three worldwide Instant Messenger applications. However, the report did not take into account the data of web-based IM services like Google Chat or Facebook. The reason for this is that it only considers installed applications and web-based IM services that run in the browser.

OPSWAT data for June 2011 of North America