Microsoft updates Windows Defender

The Redmond, Wash., software giant last week released a refreshed version of Windows Defender, according to the Anti-Malware Engineering Team's blog.

Microsoft updated the product in response to feedback from the group's blog and other newsgroups, according to the team's blog.

Among the new options offered in the program's second beta version are a checkbox option in the program's system tray where PC users can monitor their system's health.

"We have also improved Windows Defender's ability to report more accurate data about potentially unwanted software through SpyNet so that we can help create better definition updates," said the Anti-Malware Engineering Team.

Microsoft announced last November that it was changing the name of Windows Anti-Spyware to Windows Defender. The program is set to be packaged as part of Windows Vista.

The new moniker better demonstrated the program's abilities in a more positive way, a company spokesperson said in November.