While Windows 10 has taken over almost 75% of the Windows PCs across the globe, there are a lot of Businesses and consumers which are still running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 for their own reasons. This means the transition will take a little longer for them, and Microsoft doesn’t want them to miss out on the benefits of Windows Defender Advance Thread Protection.
Today, Microsoft has announced that Windows Defender is going to support Windows 7 SP1, and Windows 8.1, and this is mostly for the business group. That said, it’s definitely a strategic decision as well. Microsoft wants business to also understand clearly how the Defender works, and it competes with other solutions in the market, and hence the effort.
In an official blog post:
Starting this summer, customers moving to Windows 10 can add Windows Defender ATP Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) functionality to their Windows 7, and Windows 8.1 devices, and get a holistic view across their endpoints.
“Security is the main driver to get current and stay current with Windows 10. It’s great to see Microsoft helping customers better protect our environment with WDATP support for Windows 7 during this transition.”
— Matt Cochran, Manager Information Systems, Hendrick Motorsports
Microsoft is building a solution for behavioral based EDR solution that will offer rich insights into threats on their endpoints. All detections and events are surfaced in Windows Defender Security Center, the cloud-based console for Windows Defender ATP. If one chooses to use it along with Windows Defender Antivirus, security teams can see all malware detections and trigger response actions to prevent the spread of malware, in the same console.
Windows Defender ATP is expanding to other platforms
That said, Microsoft is also expanding Windows Defender to other platforms. The company is working closely with partners to bring it on macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android devices. Last November, Bitdefender, Lookout, and Ziften joined the bandwagon.
