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Killing OneCare and Calling It a Success

We've covered (and lamented) OneCare quite a bit. For one, we were concerned that OneCare competed directly with McAfee, Symantec, Sophos and Sunbelt. These companies all built anti-virus/anti-malware software that saved Windows from a viral meltdown. Their reward? Having Microsoft compete with them directly, and even denigrate partners that chose to work with non-Redmond-sourced security software.

We also said that OneCare didn't seem to work very well. It wasn't my opinion -- it was yours! You told me of all its problems. I never used the thing.

Now Microsoft doesn't care one lick about OneCare and is killing it off next June. One Microsoft exec explains that putting OneCare on death row doesn't mean it's guilty of failure. The problem is that poor people need protection too and can't afford the $50 yearly price tag. (Hmm...I've argued many times that anti-malware should be built right into the OS, just like brakes and turn signals and seat belts are built right into the car.)

Microsoft may be turning in this direction with Morro, a free tool that will replace OneCare. If Morro can stand up to other top-end anti-malware tools, I'll be a happy computing camper and take back all the bad things I ever said about OneCare.

Posted by Doug Barney on December 02, 2008


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