Coming from mac, where I never had an security suite to Windows 11 Pro, do I need one like the other versions of Windows did?

Just got a Microsoft Surface laptop 3, and upgraded it from WIndows 10 pro to Windows 11 pro earlier this afternoon. The next question is, since I am coming from mainly being a mac user, and the last time I used any windows version was the abortion windows vista was, do I need to look for a security suite or does windows 11 have one built in like the mac os does, I never used any security suite on any of my macs.

Going from the forum history here the most popular consensus seems to be that the built in Windows Defender is fine as it's come a long way and some like myself use Malwarebytes Free to run manual scans now and then as a back up. That's what I use on both my machines now but I'm sure you'll get some varying opinions.

As long as it has some form of protection, it looks like windows has come a long way from the abortion vista was, it's still windows and still hackers doing their thing, and with this Ukraine thing..... who knows whats next.

Brian60077 said:

As long as it has some form of protection, it looks like windows has come a long way from the abortion vista was, it's still windows and still hackers doing their thing, and with this Ukraine thing..... who knows whats next.

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If you go into settings under privacy and security you can open up Windows Security and take a look at it and its settings. Like I said it's come a long way from the early days.

Windows firewall, Windows defender, and common sense on what to click on and what not to click on. That's all I use and so far, virus free on multiple computers for years now.

I'm assuming that as long as everything has the green checkmark it is good to go.

Brian60077 said:

I'm assuming that as long as everything has the green checkmark it is good to go.

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Apparently that's a good sign

Sounds good then. So far this surface laptop 3 seems awesome, and windows 11 is so much better than vista.... may be too early to say I am impressed.... but surprised how nice it is.

Brian60077 said:

Sounds good then. So far this surface laptop 3 seems awesome, and windows 11 is so much better than vista.... may be too early to say I am impressed.... but surprised how nice it is.

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Once they address the basic functionality issues such as file explorer and the limited taskbar functions it'll be ok. I don't think it has the legs to be great but hey, it's Windows.

When windows vista came out I bought a brand new "budget" laptop which the salesperson at best buy assured me would do the things I needed it to do. It was so horrible, I gave it to my neighbor, and went and bought a used apple powerbook that worked so much better.... and never looked back to anything microsoft. The job I have now, with the remote work requirements basically requires windows, and I will not install windows on a mac, so I found this Surface laptop 3 on craigslist for a really good price and bought it this past saturday, and I am very surprised how well it works... not gonna say impressed with it yet because well it is Windows....

All depends on how confident you are with your computer useage habits, and whether you practice safe computing.

Bearing in mind if you want to click something that you shouldn't, don't rely on a third party to protect your nefarious wanderings.

Brian60077 said:

When windows vista came out I bought a brand new "budget" laptop which the salesperson at best buy assured me would do the things I needed it to do. It was so horrible, I gave it to my neighbor, and went and bought a used apple powerbook that worked so much better.... and never looked back to anything microsoft. The job I have now, with the remote work requirements basically requires windows, and I will not install windows on a mac, so I found this Surface laptop 3 on craigslist for a really good price and bought it this past saturday, and I am very surprised how well it works... not gonna say impressed with it yet because well it is Windows....

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You could also enable Windows Sandbox just to test zip or .exe files you're unsure about.

Brian60077 said:

Sounds good then. So far this surface laptop 3 seems awesome, and windows 11 is so much better than vista.... may be too early to say I am impressed.... but surprised how nice it is.

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Comparing W11 to Vista is like comparing a modern car with fuel injection, air con, automatic everything with a 20 year old car with carburettor, manual windows etc.

Brian60077 said:

When windows vista came out I bought a brand new "budget" laptop which the salesperson at best buy assured me would do the things I needed it to do. It was so horrible

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You have hit the nail on the head on why Vista failed. Low-end (budget) systems were everywhere. Vista needed more ram and graphics power than any OS before it. With the proper system, Vista was great.

Porthos said:

You have hit the nail on the head on why Vista failed. Low-end (budget) systems were everywhere. Vista needed more ram and graphics power than any OS before it. With the proper system, Vista was great.

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Apart from the "glass" type wallpaper Vista was quite horrible -- there was obviously something quite wrong with it because Windows 7 that came out later ran perfectly on those same low end systems.

However this thread isn't about the relative merits of versions of Windows. Suffice to say if you use common sense and keep windows defender updated regularly (just click windows update in the settings) you will be fine.

There's too much paranoia about "Russian Hackers" -- they are out either to make serious money or wreck infrastructure or both. They aren't interested in getting 25 USD from some private individuals bank account - far too much effort for too little reward, - they'd rather take down the entire Bank. !!

Cheers
jimbo