Later it evolved into an anti-virus program and Microsoft Security Essentials was replaced by it. On October 24, 2006, Windows Defender was launched as a free antispyware for Windows XP. It comes pre-installed in Windows, which is an anti-malware software. Windows Defender Antivirus is known as Windows Defender. Following is some information about them. Then you can have an in-depth look at the comparisons and differences of them, which are compared from five aspects. To start with, I will introduce some basic information about Windows Defender and Avast respectively. Use MiniTool ShadowMaker to Back up Files.