Is this an attempt to grab profits from 3rd party security software companies?  Are said companies going to be "pushed" into selling their products through the MS store?

I've used Defender since 2007 on Vista 32/64 and on Win7 since release, just because it's there. To the best of my recollection, it has never blocked, stopped, removed or otherwise had any effect on any malware my rigs had been exposed to. It wouldn't even spit out a false positive once in awhile to make me think it was working.

I've used AVG, Avast, and now ASC Pro with AV (great , btw) all of which detected and stopped most things I did not want on my computer with little or no false positives. 

What got through always needed 3rd party Malware removal tools to get rid of. Defender is a toothless, mute watchdog imho and I have little confidence in it or now MSE's ability to do it's job.

No thanks, MS.

Undoubtedly buying through any retailer will engender added cost... passed on to the consumer.

That said, MSE has blocked a nasty or two for me (in the past).

MSE along with Threatfire hasn't missed a bug yet. All the more reason to 86 Win8. The more Microstuff tries to improve it the more they f**k it up. I'm beginning to think MS really doesn't give a shit for the very people who use their software. Any other company would go belly up in a heart beat.

Well this dilemma doesn't apply to me.  My rig is a home build and I have no trialware crap to consider.  In fact, that's one of the primary reasons I refuse to buy OEM machines.... all the damned bloat and crapware, plus the fact that I'm not locked into a closed system in which I unable to upgrade my hardware as needed.

When the time comes to purchase/install the finished product I'll make a decision then, though MSE seems to be shaping up as a viable alternative to Avast and other free AV programs.  In fact, a full version Kaspersky Internet Security came with my motherboard, unused so far, so it is another option when the time comes to safeguarding Win 8.... which I will update to now that I've discovered the means and ways to use it like a regular Windows desktop.  On this hardware and my SSD's in RAID 0 array, it should positively fly above the capabilities of Win 7.

Ah, but it does... if you have other subscription Security software on your system. When your sub is up, W8 might go into the 15 day routine. If not, Windows Defender might or might not activate: I don't know. If I were you I'd check into this... 

Starkers, you say you found a way to force Win8 to behave like a traditional desktop, is it through 3rd party tools?

From what I understood this situation applied to OEM machines offering trial software which may or may not conflict with Windows Defender and/or Win 8.  I may have misunderstood, but I don't think it will matter to me too much as I'll probably stick with the beefed up Win Defender anyway.

Yes, I use Classic Shell [free] to bypass the Metro UI and replace the start button and menu, thus giving it a Win 7 feel and appearance, but I also use Winstep Xtreme [from $29.95] which provides a fully customisable start menu, a workshelf to place all your shortcuts, folders and programs, etc in segments to suit your needs, and a dock named Nexus that can hold your most frequently used items but hides off screen until require.

Stardock also does Start8, which restores the start button and start menu that Microsoft saw fit to remove because we "don't need it anymore"

All of these apps assist in making Win 8 more user friendly, it's just up to you what best suits your needs.  There are probably others available but these are the 3 I am familiar with and find useful.

Micosoft has a very poor history record when it comes to security software of any kind. You probably better of any other security software free or paid for than with a program from Microsoft.

thing is... most isp or even banks give out freebie security suites nowadays... mcafee, kas, etc

I never have like MSE. No option to turn off auto updates, scanning is slow, and the program itself slowed down my computer. Looks like I'll stick to Windows 7. 

If I ever buy an OEM computer (big if) there's no question that I'll use the Reset feature as soon as I get it to wipe all their shit off it.

Also, saying 'big business' is their only concern would mean they never added that feature in the first place.

I could mention antitrust here, since Europe is still on their ass for including other things in their OS...

But I really don't care, so that's all I'll add on the topic.

I have used MSE and windows firewall on my machine for ages and have NEVER been hit by any nasties. I also do manual scans with malwarebytes and spybot 2 or 3 times a week. No security software is infallible and straight out common sense is the best way to avoid being hammered by viruses and malware. The way i see it, If Microsoft want to include MSE as standard in THEIR operating system then why not?. You are free to not purchase it after all. And it looks like they will include options to not activate MSE and choose to find your own solution. So whats the problem? People are too precious and self inflated and expect everything to be done how they want it. Well life aint like that and you always have a choice.

I have no problems with MS providing security software for their OS, I actually think they should.

If there is an option to use 3rd party software if you choose to, I see this as a non issue. Don't care who provides it, as long as it works.

That's overkill. Once a month should suffice. 

The issue I have with MSE is the auto-updates. No way to turn it off. Nothing more annoying than a program updating itself and using resources you need for other apps.

Ummm... i will decide whats overkill and what's not thankyou. You stick to how you do it and i will stick to how i do it. This is the reason why in 25 years of computer use i have never been hit by anything major. Like i said. Common sense is the way. Once a month in my opinion is irresponsible and i would never let you within 50 feet of any of my computers if that is the way you do things. So there