Emsisoft has released the first public betas for Emsisoft Anti-Malware 9, and a new product, Emsisoft Internet Security 9.

Anti-Malware has essentially the same browsing and antivirus protection as before, but Internet Security 9 takes the package further with a completely new firewall core. Think Emsisoft Online Armor, but with full IPv6 support, more packet filtering rules and better overall performance.

Both packages feature a completely revamped, faintly Windows 8-like interface. Four colourful tiles represent the program’s main functions (Protection, Scan, Quarantine, Logs), while there’s one-click access to common features and menus.

Emsisoft says scanning accuracy and malware removal has been improved, particularly for 64-bit systems.

The brand new interface is clean and easy to use

Enhanced Windows 8 and 8.1 support means the program will take greater advantage of live tiles and the new notification system.

And this all comes packaged in an enhanced core which makes better use of Windows’ own security technologies (ASLR, DEP), while also reducing resource requirements and boosting overall performance.

Our first impressions were mixed. Just about everyone is turning to Modern UI-type interfaces at the moment, but this one isn’t bad at all, and at first glance it seems to be a good balance between ease of use and functionality.

The firewall was harder to assess because it just didn’t work, locking up the program whenever we tried to access it on our test PC. That’s to be expected with betas, of course, and this doesn’t seem to be a common problem anyway, so don’t let it put you off.

The rest of the program ran as expected, correctly detecting malware (and a little more than Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, although slower) and blocking some malicious websites.

Emsisoft Anti-Malware 9 and Emsisoft Internet Security 9 may be worth a look if you’re a fan of the company, then, if only for a browse around the new interface. But please note, you must uninstall any existing Emsisoft Anti-Malware or Online Armor package before you try the beta.