Has Microsoft Security Essentials Started to Nag?

[erpdude8]

DAMN IT MICROSOFT!  Make up your damn minds about MSE on Win7 

Now MS has made complete U-turn about offering MSE definition updates after the Win7 EOL 1/14/2020 date, Vistapocalypse:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-security-essentials-to-get-updates-after-windows-7-eos/

https://borncity.com/win/2019/12/18/microsoft-security-essentials-mse-for-windows7-extended-definition-updates-after-january-14-2020/

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3510500/microsoft-blinks-security-essentials-will-continue-to-receive-updates-after-jan-14.html

Edit: looks like Win7 users will be able to continue to use MSE even after Jan. 14, 2020 - so you can forget about Win7 users seeing any MSE EOL nags, Vistapocalypse.  I recently installed the recent MSE definition updates on my bro's Win7 laptop this Dec. 2019 and still no MSE EOL nags appear.

Edit 2: Proof is in this Microsoft community forum thread about extending MSE updates for Win7 after EOL.

Edited December 18, 2019 by erpdude8

[Vistapocalypse]

I see no reason why good news for MSE users should be introduced with cursing, but I like erpdude8's diligence. As @dencorso correctly predicted back in January, MSE definition updates will continue after January 14, although no specific grace period has thus far been announced AFAIK. The page FAQ about Extended Security Updates for Windows 7 mentioned in my previous post was updated December 18:

Quote

Will Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) continue to protect my computer after the end of support?

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) will continue to receive signature updates after January 14, 2020. However, the MSE platform will no longer be updated.

The last part about "the MSE platform will no longer be updated" isn't very surprising, since there hasn't been an MSE upgrade in more than 3 years. I was happily using 4.10.209.0 on Vista until it started to nag in January 2017.

17 hours ago, erpdude8 said:

looks like Win7 users will be able to continue to use MSE even after Jan. 14, 2020 - so you can forget about Win7 users seeing any MSE EOL nags, Vistapocalypse.

My question about MSE nagging was answered to my satisfaction 2 months ago, erpdude8. Page 2 of this thread is actually another MSE-related topic, which is fine with me.

[Tripredacus]

I would suspect that the "definitions" are no OS specific, or at worst just architecture specific. Whereas MSE and Windows Defender use the same files. If that is indeed the case, Win7 would (or could) still get definition updates until such a time when Defender is updated in such a way that renders (then) current updates incompatible with MSE.

[erpdude8]

I've just manually installed the 1/14/2020 MSE definition files onto MSE for Win7 and the MSE v4.10.209 app still runs as normal - no EOL nags appear in the MSE app.