Microsoft brings formerly Windows-centric Defender antivirus to macOS

Reflecting its increasingly platform-agnostic stance, Microsoft on Thursday revealed plans to bring its Defender antivirus software to the Mac, if initially in limited form.

Specifically Macs will get Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, renamed to Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), the company said. A limited preview is being offered to businesses that operate a mix of Mac and Windows PCs, consistent with ATP's business-only focus.

The software requires macOS Sierra or later. To update Defender, businesses will need Microsoft's custom AutoUpdate tool.

It's not yet known if the standard version of Defender will come to Macs. To date that app has simply been integrated into Windows 10, ensuring a base level of security against viruses and other threats.

Apple has had similar protections built into macOS/OS X since later versions of Snow Leopard, but these typically operate in the background.

Since taking over as CEO in 2014, Satya Nadella has steered Microsoft in an Apple-friendly direction. Many Microsoft products have made the transition to Macs, iPhones, and iPads, more recently even parts of its Xbox gaming platform that should eventually let people play those games without an Xbox at all.

34 Comments

petri 122 comments · 11 Years

About 5 years ago

If there was any form of anti virus I was less likely to install on my Mac than any of the current crop, it’s Microsoft anti virus.

SimonF 2 comments · 6 Years

Why would any Mac owner want anything to do with anything in the way of firewall or antivirus that Microsoft built? Given the problems with Windoz and their updates that don't work crash computers I for one will be staying as far away as possible from any form of security Microsoft offers!

rotateleftbyte 1630 comments · 12 Years

No, No and Thrice NO...

I came to us a Mac because of Microsoft.

I will never ever install a bit of their software again. I attribute all the grey and now white hair that I have to the years and years I spent fighting their stupidity at work. The day after I retired I nuked all my MS Software including VM's. It has gone and is never coming back.

There is a reason why microsoft.com is blocked at my home firewall.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

petri said:

If there was any form of anti virus I was less likely to install on my Mac than any of the current crop, it’s Microsoft anti virus.

It’ll sell like hotcakes. In the mind of the public Microsoft is a trusted brand. You’d be amazed at how many Mac users have anti-virus software installed. You see them all over the place in the Apple Discussion Forums asking which AV is the best. When troubleshooting in the forums tons of people have AV installed. With any bug, glitch, malfunction, etc. the typical user assumes right away it is caused by a “virus” without even knowing what a virus is. That’s the fact of life with the general public. So while Mac tech blog forums will be full of snickering and sarcasm the typical Mac user will probably jump on it.

gatorguy 24611 comments · 13 Years

SimonF said:

Why would any Mac owner want anything to do with anything in the way of firewall or antivirus that Microsoft built? Given the problems with Windoz and their updates that don't work crash computers I for one will be staying as far away as possible from any form of security Microsoft offers!

I don't think this is meant for you anyway. This version of Microsoft Defender is intended for mixed use commercial/institutional where a large number of computers are involved but perhaps on different OS platforms. This is not for the home user.