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Microsoft Admits Disabling Anti-Virus Software For Windows 10 Users (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Microsoft has admitted that it does temporarily disable anti-virus software on Windows PCs, following an competition complaint to the European Commission by a security company. In early June, Kaspersky Lab filed the complaint against Microsoft. The security company claims the software giant is abusing its market dominance by steering users to its own anti-virus software. Microsoft says it implemented defenses to keep Windows 10 users secure. In an extensive blog post that does not directly address Kaspersky or its claims, Microsoft says it bundles the Windows Defender Antivirus with Windows 10 to ensure that every single device is protected from viruses and malware. To combat the 300,000 new malware samples being created and spread every day, Microsoft says that it works together with external anti-virus partners. The technology giant estimates that about 95% of Windows 10 PCs were using anti-virus software that was already compatible with the latest Windows 10 Creators Update. For the applications that were not compatible, Microsoft built a feature that lets users update their PCs and then reinstall a new version of the anti-virus software. "To do this, we first temporarily disabled some parts of the AV software when the update began. We did this work in partnership with the AV partner to specify which versions of their software are compatible and where to direct customers after updating," writes Rob Lefferts, a partner director of the Windows and Devices group in enterprise and security at Microsoft.
So, apparently Microsoft is the only one who has actually figured out how to disable McAfee. They should patent that.
I have a fifteen year old refrigerator that still works, as well as a twenty year old oven, a nine year old smart phone, an eleven year old TV, lamps that are more than thirty years old, a lawnmower that is going on twenty years old, and lots of other "shit" that is fifteen years or older that still works. Why should anyone discard functional things just because of Microsoft's say so?
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Or for a non-inflammatory title: Microsoft Disables Faulty AV Software so Win10 Uses Can Safely Update To Latest OS
AV software is some of the worst crap to get foisted on Windows installations. I wish MS would just disallow it outright. But as the Kaspersky suit shows, AV vendors aren't going to let go of that teet if they find any way to avoid being forced to do so.
More accurate: Microsoft admits disabling outdated incompatible AV software that was not updated in a timely manner by their vendors to support the newest version of Windows before their users upgraded. Microsoft also ensured these users would remain protected by enabling the built-in AV protection since the users were not guaranteed to have any other compatible AV software installed.