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Microsoft to Ship New Malware Protection Utility
LadyDarth writes "Microsoft introduced on Thursday a new program called Client Protection that will help to combat viruses, maiware and spyware in the corporate environment. Paul Bryan, product management director in the enterprise security division at Microsoft, said in an interview with BetaNews Wednesday night that Client Protection's aim is to 'make sure people have fewer security products' to concern themselves with. Responding to concerns that it was stepping on its partners toes, Bryan admitted that Microsoft has 'knowledge and an understanding of the capabilities of the operating system' that its partners may not have. But he said that information would not be hidden."
in one sentence he is stating ms knows something about windows that no one else does, in the second he is stating they aren't hiding anything. it can only be one or the other, not both. i'm very inclined to think it's the first. they haven't documented jack shit in order the maintain their strangle hold and put the rest of the industry out of business.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Some people may claim that Microsoft still allows users to remove the Claria software. For example:
However, the issue here is not whether or not Windows Antispyware still detects Claria products...the issue is Microsoft's recommendation on said products. While it is true that users still have the option to remove Claria products if they so choose, the fact is that users had the option to keep Claria products on their system back when Microsoft was recommending removal. The insinuation that this change offers users more choice than previously available is tacitly false.
The real issue here is Microsoft abusing their position of trust within the general computer user community. No, I'm not talking about people like us here...I'm talking about Ma and Pa Computer User...the ones who see a virus or spyware warning and panic. Many of these people rely upon the recommendations offered by the spyware detection/removal applications to decide on how best to manage their systems. By artificially upgrading Claria products from 'remove' to 'ignore', Microsoft is taking unfair advantage of these users' trust.
Also claimed:
As far as I'm aware, no other spyware removal application has promoted Claria products in this fashion. Until Microsoft publishes these 'objective criteria', and shows how Claria products managed to get upgraded from 'remove' to 'ignore' under them, we will have no choice but to assume more ulterior motives.
If somebody steals your car because you didn't lock the doors, is that the manufacturer's fault?
And if you were told that Ford F150s are involved in vastly more accidents than Volvos, would you be surprised? Could you then declare that Volvos are more safer/stable because they don't get wrecked as often?
Volvos have a reputation of safety partly because they are safe cars and partly because their reputation brings safety-conscious people into their dealerships - people who aren't as likely to get in accidents regardless of what make/model they drive. Windows has the widest desktop distribution on the planet and also has the most computer-illiterate people using their desktops.
Someone who is inclined to research a Linux build, find it, download it, and install it themselves is probably not likely to wire money to some Nigerian royal accountant who out of the goodness of his heart is going to make you a millionaire. But for each nerd who does that, there are 50 little grannies whose Dell came with Windows pre-installed. If Linux was more than 3% of the worldwide desktop market and non-computer-savvy people used Linux we'd be seeing a lot more malware aimed at Linux. And there *will* be malware that penetrates Linux - NO system is ever 100% safe. So STFU with your FUD about Windows and consider the possibility that they have the hardest market of all, a market that the open-source geeks don't seem to think is worth anything: non-techno-savvy people who just want their computers to work.