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MS To Build Antivirus Into Windows 8: Good idea or monopoly?


DKT27

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Rather quietly, Microsoft announced they will build anti-virus protection into Windows 8, rather than ask users to download Security Essentials as they do in Windows 7. Will that help consumers, or hurt AV companies?

In a blog post at Sophos, an antivirus company, the writer says it will hurt companies that rely on consumer sales, like Sophos does. So does that mean it's good for consumers then? Maybe, but maybe not. If every consumer that gets Windows 8 on their new computer never beefs up their protection beyond the antivirus included by Microsoft, won't that leave a universe of vulnerable computers to attack for the malware writers?

On the other hand, should Microsoft just patch their seemingly never-ending list of security holes as part of their job? Their insecure software created the need for malware companies in the first place. So if Microsoft includes better security in Windows 8, are they hurting the AV companies, or helping the consumer?

Slapping Microsoft

Personally, I don't think vendors will have a whole lot to worry about, especially as untrustworthy as Microsoft has always been known to be.

Rockin Rotty on sophos.com

Maybe its a PR move for Microsoft more than anything. "Windows 8 has a built-in anti-virus and is more secure than ever!"

sandboxed on news.ycombinator.com

It's like having the fox guard the henhouse! It was never a good idea - look at how they hid the *DLL's in Office in the 90's.

Scott on sophos.com

why would I want to buy an OS that is flawed and needs to be fixed by buying third-party products? Microsoft adressing that issue isn't something I perceive as great news, it's rather sad they shipped windows so insecurely for such a long time.

derwildemomo on news.ycombinator.com

Basically: Microsoft is telling malware authors "If you can't beat our AV, you need to stop trying to make malware" but at the same time hinting "If you CAN beat it... well, feel free to take these millions and millions of computers with ignorant users on them!".

Guest99 on sophos.com

We love viruses

Let me get this right. Microsoft don't ship Windows with anti-virus and everyone screams about viruses. Now, when Microsoft does ship Windows with anti-virus, these same people scream about anti-competitive behaviur.

Dr Stabissmus on geek.com

This is great news. About 90% of the problems that I help people with result from expired virus software.

Matt Coger on geek.com

I don't think this will really have that much of an impact any time in the near future, but if it does, it will probably make malware nastier and antivirus software better, and it will still be business-as-usual for support companies, which means it won't really improve consumers' lives much.

thaumaturgy on news.ycombinator.com

Slapping AV companies

I would be more bothered if other vendors anti-malware wasn't terrible. Every virus-like behavior I've seen over the past several years was actually anti-malware misbehaving.

three14 on news.ycombinator.com

I currently use Security Essentials on my box, it runs great. Its light on resources and it doesn't have all the unneeded bloat that many vendors install.

Jim on sophos.com

This is a good thing. Anti-virus companies have gotten lazy, mostly to increase profits.

bad_user on news.ycombinator.com

:view: View: Original Article

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Good idea. AV companies are only making their stuff more and more bloated with useless donkey shit features that help nobody (*cough hips *cough).

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Good idea. :idea:

Anti-virus function is missing when Windows was launched.

It should be part of the config just like Disk Defragmenter, Task Scheduler, Notepad, Sticky Notes, Snipping Tool, etc.

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great idea! however it is true that if there are flaws in the OS AV then they will be exploited and you will need a 3rd party soft. anyway.

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Let me get this right. Microsoft don't ship Windows with anti-virus and everyone screams about viruses. Now, when Microsoft does ship Windows with anti-virus, these same people scream about anti-competitive behaviur.

I couldn't agree more.

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its a great idea and ultimately microsoft owns it they sould beable to do w/e they want doesnt matter if others lose out lol thats one of the reasons why i hate apple for lawsuits over ms for ie being intergrated into windows and then all the other browser companies chimed in... no wonder why bill gates was laughing in court.. it was his product on his software rofl

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As long as MS gives the end-user a choice to switch-off the feature then I don't see much problem with it.

Agreed. It's a good addition, but should be allowed to disable easily.

Thing is, I believe they will integrate it with the system, hence, it will never be totally removable or disabled. Second, if we can disable it, so can the malware.

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As long as MS gives the end-user a choice to switch-off the feature then I don't see much problem with it.

Agree.

It's cool to have it, if it's free. as beer told, there end-user will be always free to switch off Add-on services.

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I have a feeling that Win8 is going to be passed over by most people. I will definitly pass it by if It does not have the option to "not install the AV". MS needs to stick to what they know. Think theyd learn their lessen after MSSE...what a joke.

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i think this is a good idea to be honest :) even though i know a lot of more pc-savvy ppl will probably just see it as inconvinience, wanting to uninstall the default ms antivirus to install their own choice. on the whole, i'd say like 75% of pc users actually don't know pc security at all; so for them to not have to worry as much about their pc slowing down so soon is great! (though let's face it, any security won't protect them from getting badly infected eventually).

hmm, i do see some security venders possibly getting a lil burnt though, but probably only the big over-praised ones, like probably just the venders in which you can by their products from a shop in person (norton, mcafee, etc), cuz i think with the default ms antivirus will stop the non security savvy ppl (who i beleive are the ppl who more than likely just buy the "big brands" security venders from a store).

hmm, not sure if any money will be lost by any pc manufacturers though (like when you buy a new pc and it's bundled with crappy security pre-installed). though i have no idea if deals are actually done and money given to companies that pre-install security software.

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There are two sides of story,

I think new OS should be built so that they don't carry burden of old ones, and old software should be completely incompatible with new OS!

If the OS are perfect in many ways a lot of people would be very poor - without job, and other half wouldn't spent so much on shitty softwares .

Can you imagine number of softwares that are created only to fix/secure/optimize Windows....

Now they even have Anti-Viruses for Linux that "removes Windows viruses" ! :wtf:

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hmm, not sure if any money will be lost by any pc manufacturers though (like when you buy a new pc and it's bundled with crappy security pre-installed). though i have no idea if deals are actually done and money given to companies that pre-install security software.

No money will be lost, Norton and Mcafee pay dell and other OEMs to preinstall their shitware on new computers. OEMs will not reject money so they will still preinstall the crappy AV trials on the new computers even if Microsoft ships a preinstalled solution.

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Partly good idea,partly bad idea.

Can't tell until one sees it.

You can always uninstall it anyway.

(Atleast they can't sell Win8 with bundled AV in E.U. area without the end-user being able to uninstall+remove it..)

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No money will be lost, Norton and Mcafee pay dell and other OEMs to preinstall their shitware on new computers. OEMs will not reject money so they will still preinstall the crappy AV trials on the new computers even if Microsoft ships a preinstalled solution.

Two AVs will result in system instability...I believe it's a long planned strategy. Two AVs > System crash > Tech support > More revenues for the manufacturer/AVs.

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hmm, not sure if any money will be lost by any pc manufacturers though (like when you buy a new pc and it's bundled with crappy security pre-installed). though i have no idea if deals are actually done and money given to companies that pre-install security software.

No money will be lost, Norton and Mcafee pay dell and other OEMs to preinstall their shitware on new computers. OEMs will not reject money so they will still preinstall the crappy AV trials on the new computers even if Microsoft ships a preinstalled solution.

On my other laptop,which is DELL (about 1 year old machine) .. There was NIS yes,but you would have to install it manually,wasn't pre-installed,there was only the setup file+shortcut's. Ofcourse I nuked it since I didn't have any intentions in using it.. :P

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Excellent idea! Microsoft has a vested interest in protecting their operating system. Seems they understand 99% of all malware is aimed straight at them and that impacts their wallets. Many enterprise level corporations have switched to Red Hat, Suse, or other business linux systems due to this. If Windows 8 to win back linux users, security that's solid and free is the way to go. I use Windows 8 and it's damn fast compared to 7.

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They could make it like Defender is now. It can easily be disabled by a security suite since you pretty much give your AV godlike permissions over your system. Some AV don't care about Defender, and if they do they just turn it off. Don't see the issue. It keeps the easy viruses that people pack with fake cracks away, and will do little over the real stuff, where a better AV may or may not help with. It will help the clueless from getting owned by that free screensaver that some 12 year old packed with a trojan, and that's all that matters, as thats the kind of crap I see the most.

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lildudespider

This could be anti-competative or a smart move by microsoft. Microsoft has been known for making solid operating systems with little or no virus protection, simply because they are the top dog on the sales charts, they will always have this problem. I think it's wise for microsoft to step up to the plate and finally recognize that antivirus companies are making money off of their vulnerabilities. Windows 8 is already shaping up to be quite fast performance wise, but it will take users and businesses a lot more than a new start menu to convince them to switch over. already microsoft is adding new features which so far have me as a tech impressed, but as a user not much is different, this new antivirus scheme could be their selling point, any other opinions on the matter?

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