No, there are no contradictory messages from Microsoft. Microsoft did not say they only deliver minimal basic protection for users. Note in particular that the comments attributed to Holly Stewart were to Dennis Technology Labs, which is an affiliate of PC Pro. There is no direct quote of Holly “advising customers to use additional, third-party antivirus”. It is a misrepresentation by PC Pro. As I wrote: Sensationalist Press Got it WRONG! Microsoft Does Not Recommend Two Antivirus Programs!.

Based on a private email with someone in MMPC, I know for a fact that the MMPC article (Our commitment to Microsoft antimalware) was a direct result of the PC Pro article and the others that picked up that article and ran with it. Obviously, it would not be “politically correct” of Microsoft to point fingers at the journalists who took PC Pro’s article as face value.

I would also point to the comments posted by “Blair” (who I believe is the same Blair who owns Geeks to Go and two other security forums), where he wrote:

Not designed to be the worst

Designed to be bottom of rankings does not equal, designed to be the worst.

Microsoft has simply decided not to game the tests. 3D video card test have had a similar problem for years.

In addition, Microsoft has a history of providing performance enhancements with vendors, now they are providing their definitions as well. This means every AV should match Microsoft’s protection, and increase it with their own additions (or test gaming).

The problem with MSE and Defender protection is that it becomes the baseline. If you want to infect a Windows 8 computer, getting past it is the price of admission. Having a diverse ecosystem of supplemental protection is better for consumers, and Microsoft realizes this. All the while making it much tougher for the bad guys (which is their end game).

By Blair on 25 Sep 2013

Bottom line, Avast (and other A/V) customers are benefiting from the samples provided by Microsoft which, added to their research, improves the detection and helps everyone.