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Microsoft Beta Includes Built-in Virus Scanner

Posted by michael on from the goodbye-norton-and-mcafee dept.

Ethereal writes "InternetNews.com reports that Microsoft has begun beta-testing a built-in virus scanner for its Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) that will be included in the final product in mid-2004. The tool is among the operating system enhancements the Redmond, Wash., company is developing as part of its Security Center initiative to rebuff viruses, worms, trojans and crackers. Microsoft will also provide free online training to help developers make the most of SP2's security features, Chairman Bill Gates said at today's RSA Security conference. It's the first time the company has offered training with a Windows service pack release."

4 of 867 comments (clear)

  1. Virus scanner by asmussen · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been working with beta builds of SP2 at work, and from looking at it, I am under the impression that what Microsoft is actually including is not actually a virus scanner, but rather integration with 3rd party virus scanners. The last build I tested (2077), complained that I didn't have any virus scanning software installed, and suggested that I remedy the situation. Poking around revealed that it has the capability to work with many existing virus scanning packages, and warn you when your virus definitions are out of date, and possibly even keep them up to date for you. Of course, maybe what I've seen so far is only a prelude to full blown anti-virus software from MS...

    --
    Shawn Asmussen
  2. Hardly a big surprise.... by Richard_L_James · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... when it was reported last year by ZDNET / news.com / Network Fusion / pcmag... that Microsoft were to buy a Romanian antivirus company !

  3. Re:serious shit for mcafee, norton, zonealarm, etc by spacefrog · · Score: 5, Informative

    obligatory examples are netscape and winzip

    The ZIP handling features in XP are licensed from WinZip. I'm sure Microsoft is by far and away Niko's best customer.

  4. The linked article is wrong... by Aphrika · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article linked to in the story is wrong and makes this argument slightly invalid.

    Have a read of the keynote transcript.

    "...and from an antivirus perspective, Windows Security Center can tell me if I have virus software installed, if it's on, and if it's up to date..."

    That's all it is - a console designed to bring all security features together in Windows, including any installed AV software. It is not bundled AV software, just a firewall and a console that aggregates all your settings and preferences into one location.