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Microsoft Officially Announces Anti-Virus Product
Harry Maugans writes "Microsoft has officially announced their entrance into the anti-virus market. By combining anti-virus scans, anti-spyware scans, and firewall protection into a single package, Microsoft thinks they've created something fresh. So fresh they're charging an annual fee of $49.99 per year." From the article: "Microsoft's Windows OneCare Live program will be launched in June and made available online and via retailers for an annual fee of $49.95 on up to three machines. Customers who beta test Windows OneCare Live between April 1 and April 30 get to take advantage of a special $19.95 promotional price. Microsoft's pricing means Windows OneCare subscribers are likely to pay less up front than if they bought traditional anti-virus software like Symantec, for example, whose Norton AntiVirus 2006 protection pack for three PCs lists at $89.99."
I wonder if the OneCare AV can detect the Microsoft Windows® virus..
Is it wrong for me to feel used and abused at the idea that Microsoft wants to charge for this service? I have seen arguments both ways, but I can't help but feel that charging for such a service amounts to little more than extortion. I mean, it's their operating system, and problems with their code that *often* (but not always) allows for these problems in the first place, so why should I have to pay extra for protection from malware that should have been stopped to begin with?
The answer is simple: don't buy Windows
#!/
What are they really doing here? Expanding their monopoly. Microsoft will offer an all-in-one security solution that integrates seamlessly with Windows because they made it for less than third-party software providers. Once the third-party providers go away, the price of OneCare Live will skyrocket just like Office did. It took over by being cheaper than WordPerfect and Lotus 123, you know. They were the word processor and spreadsheet you had to have in the day.
How ya like dat?
Microsoft does NOT pay you back for having to go fix your computer at the pc store. They have a seriously flawed product they are allowed to peddle near and far, make billions off of it, with ZERO warranty. No other class of products out there that people can buy, rent or lease to use has that option, software is the only one.
It SUCKS. It is NOT SUITABLE for internet connectivity. It is a flawed product and should be outright banned and MS forced to use some of their billions to remove it from the market until such a time as they have a product that is both warrrantied and is actually functional. If EVER a law was needed it would be a universal software lemon law. The loss to the planet world wide in terms of lost productivity and compromises is in the mega billions due to their past monopolistic practices in getting their flawed products "locked in" with home consumers, businesses and governmental agencies. They have apparently colluded with the larger computer manufacturers to effectively lock out of the market viable alternatives and best practices business solutions and techniques in order to both garner and maintain business share.
Remember, a monopoly is not legally classed as 100% of the market.
They still control over 90%, this latest scam of their's is PROOF that their offerings are not suitable for the internet road. On a closed LAN, swell, use it, on the open internet, they should be banned. The government or consumers would NOT put up with this with any other product, but for some reason software gets a free skate on ANY professional class responsibility. They are allowed and granted copyrights, patents and trademarks, are allowed to profit from it to the tune of hundreds of billions, yet offer NO WARRANTY. Now, in order to "fix" something that SHIPS BROKEN, you have to PAY MORE and there's STILL no guarantee with it.
I know I decided a few years ago I would never again pay for any software "to use" until such a time as it had a minimum warranty. I don't care who makes it, where it comes from or what it allegedly does, no more cash from me to any software companies. Software companies make the **AAs look like benevolent philanthropists. I'll take it for free, because that's all it is worth anymore. And I don't "pirate", I've paid for every piece of non-free as in gratis I have ever used, including shareware, and also paid a lot for free as in libre software, but NO MORE.
I'm sending this story to several states attorney generals for review. They need to reopen the MS anti trust investigations, and this time go for criminal penalities under RICO. And I'm writing SNAIL MAIL so it gets read- both my senators and my rep to see if we can get some sane software lemon law on the books. The "not my fault" EULA has got to go! Because IT IS THEIR FAULT.