Comments on: Microsoft's antivirus package makes a splash

Aided by low introductory pricing, Windows Live OneCare lands No. 2 sales spot at U.S. stores in its debut month.

[heystoopid]

Not for me!

Not for me, given M$'s very slow response to SONY BMG's rootkit affair of '05, and then only due to computer users incessant demands only, and not doing what is right, because it is the right thing to do!

[john55440]

Link: PC Mag. Review of OneCare

See:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1976149,00.asp

The "Spyware protection not effective in testing" conclusion is a dealbreaker for me.

As for other commercial competitors, McAfee just released four new 07 versions, but I haven't seen any reviews of them.

As for Symantec, it sounds like their 06 line is worse than their 05 line. I don't have much hope for the quality of their products in the future. Not to mention, their nasty habit of trying to cheat customers out of rebates.

And yes, some free alternatives are available, although I don't know how good/bad they are.

[Macsaresafer]

No, you're not right.

OS 9 had nothing to do with Unix.

[Jesus#2]

And people make fun of Mac users...

Talk about fanboyism.. paying for something the OS should include
for free.
Lemmings...

[Seaspray0]

Yes, it should be

Since it's checking for issues that Microsoft is responsible for due to holes in the software... it should be free. You'll get no argument from me on that. Does apple provide a similar service for free?

[mgreere]

OneCare is quite the living joke

This is real? Are pigs flying?

Selling a product to fix flaws in another product for which you're
responsible?

Quite the racket!

How about MS just invests all of the money in OneCare into security
instead?

[armaetin]

MS Will Get Sued

If Microsoft invests more money into security, don't you think security companies will get angry and sue Microsoft over that. After all, investing in security will take business away from say, Norton and McAfee. People will lose jobs ,and Microsoft will be held responsible for it.

[rmiecznik]

That's why I don't use Windows anymore...

I switched to a Mac OS X 6 months and never looked back. I still do some work on a PC, but I have it totally disconnected from any network, no modem, no eithernet, no wireless..

I do my work, then I access the PC via the Mac share and get my work done this way.

There is no way in hell I will spend a lot of money on a broekn OS and then be forced into yearly fees to keep it secure, that's BS at it's greatest.

Is it better then the security flaws pickup by other scanner products, maybe, maybe not.

Don't care anymore, MS is pretty messed up pretty heavily.

[Hardrada]

not really

no - that would be like having to pay for a replacement windshield when some kid throws a rock through it.

Ever wonder why credit card companies and banks don't sue Microsoft when your a pc user's personal data gets compromised and used fraudulently? The reason is because it isn't Microsoft's responsibility to ensure every aspect of your pc security - this is up to you.

Most malware today does exactly what legitimate software does, only without telling you it is about to do it. Microsoft can't ship you good judgement. I'll grant the lots of bugs have been discovered in production software over the years, but at this point a lot of what people are complaining about has to do with their own behavior more than Microsoft's.

[Hardrada]

Macs are what?

Okay - because I'm sick of hearing this whole "Macs are invulnerable" spiel - here's Apple Security fix 2006-003 to update Macs running Mac OS X v10.4.6 and older. There are 25 different updates in all, several of which are security related, including this one -
-----------------------------------------------
Safari
Available for: Mac OS X v10.4.6, Mac OS X Server v10.4.6

Impact: Visiting malicious web sites may lead to file manipulation or arbitrary code execution
-----------------------------------------------

The fact that you're not hearing a ton of stuff about Macs being exploited has nothing to do with the fact that they are so secure, but rather that nobody really wants to bother given they represent a pubic crab in the entire universe of personal computing.

[qwerty75]

Not just wrong

But stupid

All complex software has flaws. The reason OSX doesn't have viruses has nothing to do with luck or market share. If market share was the reason, Apache on Linux would be a security seive like XP is. It is not.

The reasons that OSX is safer is because of design and quick response. OSX is built on unix, an OS that has been around for over 30 years and is rock solid and secure.

When flaws are found, they are fixed quickly, and even if they aren't patched, the security model keeps any damage to a minimum. Unlike MS OS's, which allow everything and anything free access.

MS is more flawed by design. It is attacked, because people with absolutely no computer knowlege(like you) can easily hack into and cause major amounts of damage. In short, windows is the most attacked for one reason: it is easiest.

It is funny how so many MS fan boys have no computer engineering knowlege and just parrot the MS lies, I mean line.

[armaetin]

I agree

Why is it that many Apple users I've met know nothing about the economy. Sure, they know plenty about computers, but they let that go to their heads and think those who differ in opinion are stupid.

I respect Apple fans' opinions, and I have the respectable right to think whatever about them. However, I agree completely: the reason you don't hear about the OSX's bugs is because of market share, ie nobody cares. After all, for what reason does Microsoft dominate the OS market if it was as terrible as Mac users describe?

I am a former Mac user who switched to Windows. To me, Macs are worthless.