Microsoft drop OneCare subscription product

[Carol Haynes]

Just read this on ZDNet.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2190&tag=nl.e589

Seems the MS OneCare Suite subscriptions will end June 2009 and then MS are replacing it with a free AntiMalware package.

[mouser]

one step forward, one step back.
someone tell Microsoft to focus on operating systems and stop trying to write one of every program in the world.  not helping.

[cranioscopical]

someone tell Microsoft to focus on operating systems and stop trying to write one of every program in the world.  not helping.

Have you not yet sent out the press release for your Microsoft Ousting Universal System Engine Robot?

[Carol Haynes]

Is it my imagination or isn't Windows Defender supposed to be an anti-malware application? Why do they need to release a new free application when it is already built into Vista, is going to be in Win7 and can be installed in WinXP ? (not that it is worth bothering with as I have yet to hear of a single person who has had Windows Defender actually defend against anything)

[cranioscopical]

I have yet to hear of a single person who has had Windows Defender actually defend against anything

Come now Carol, the best defense is a good offense, and WD offends many.

[Carol Haynes]

I think I love you 

[Shades]

Hey, MS had to give it a fitting name.

If they would have called it 'Early bird' than it would actually have to catch worms...

[cranioscopical]

Could have called it Enza.
As in 'my computer has a virus, it got in through Enza.'

[zridling]

It's not surprising that few people took Microsoft up on its OneCare offer. There could be a variety of reasons why, among them that Microsoft is not known for security. But doesn't it seem weird that Microsoft thought that users would want to pay Microsoft itself to fix Microsoft's own security flaws?

[Lashiec]

What flaws? Letting users run programs and click on URLs?

The reason was simply that OneCare sucked a lot compared to competing products, although it brought its own share of features that would make up for this (backups and the like).

Personally, the only reason I see Microsoft releasing Morro (heh) is to let the guys they employed for the various security companies they bought a while ago work on something. In any case, I think that with the UAC and some improvements in Windows Defender (like extending the number of locations it monitors) it should be more than enough for protection.

[Stoic Joker]

Is it my imagination or isn't Windows Defender supposed to be an anti-malware application? Why do they need to release a new free application when it is already built into Vista, is going to be in Win7 and can be installed in WinXP ? (not that it is worth bothering with as I have yet to hear of a single person who has had Windows Defender actually defend against anything)

Now you have.

I've been recommending it to a select group of business clients (approx 50 users) for about a year. This group is comprised of a cross section of users with varying skills, from safe to have Domain Admin rights to probably safer with a pad and pencil... Granted WD was being backed up by SpyBot Search and destroy's SD Helper but WD did it's share and I only had to intercede (for a cleanup) once.

Every one was given the same lecture about updating things in a timely fashion, and what not to click on before the "test" began and was then left to their own devices (as it were...).

During the same period there was a steady stream of walk-in clients using every over-the-top resource hogging Baby-Sitter level "Security Suite" on the market that had managed to completely cripple their machine by inanely clicking on anything that appeared on the screen.

Hence I am firmly entrenched in the less-is-more camp an will continue to recommend WD.