angrynorth

Stuff like this makes me feel al the more happy I jumped off the Microsoft Titanic last year.

How any software company can sell you an OS full of holes, then sell you back anti-virus software to fix it at a cost is ridiculous.

There is a serious conflict of interests here.

Links

ZD net

NY Post

messiah

I agree with you.

Still won't be buying a mac though.

angrynorth

Never said you had to. Just that you people need to know about the nasty tricks MS pull with Windows.

There's more alternatives than just Mac.

I'll also re-iterate I do not have a problem with MS as a whole, (I love my Xbox) just their policy on Windows and shafting customers whilst laughing at you.

ozzy

I agree, charging for it is taking the pi$$. They should be providing this service, along with the firewall as part of the core product. Once you pay for XP, that should be it.

There are alternatives to MS, but other than Mac OS I can't see any decent user friendly ones. Linux is just a complete nightmare, especially getting hardware support.

Stefan

JackClark

They tried supplying antivirus software once before with Windows 3.1, was a nightmare then and no doubt will be if they try again.

angrynorth

I imagine you won't be too pleased if they do Jack.

It's annoying because if they know there are vulnerabilities in their software, that people have paid for already, they should fix them.

Not even mentioning the possibility of leaving holes to be fixed with the pre-installed (probably) MSAV.

JackClark

It wouldn't be too bad for us, Symantec have their eggs more firmly placed in the consumer basket. Don't expect to see anything much from MS for quite a while yet.

ScoobyDaz

Unfortunatley I have to agree with Stefan, Linux is great in an environment where 99.9% uptime isn't a problem (universities etc) but in a business environment it is still a bit flakey .

Microsoft should be providing these things FOC though

Daz

Iain Young

If they did that, they'd just get another law suit filed against them by the monopolies commision....

angrynorth

Not if they were just correcting the holes that create the vulnerabilities.

ChrisB

Which is not an AV issue then.

angrynorth

The point being, rather than fix the problems in the first place, they are choosing to send out AV software at a cost to the consumer.

I am sure nobody would complain if they tidied it up first, rather than resorting to AV software?