I have much respect for Bill and his ethics as in not including the ask toolbar in his software (this came up some time ago) and I do have a license for both Winpatrol as well as Taskcatcher but am not currently running either as they are not needed with my current setup.
I always use it......Scotty alerts me to things on occasion....Obviously its not my main security app.....but I've yet to see any convincing arguments to prove its worthless.
I think WinPatrol is a great little program and is extremely light. Whether you think it is needed or not it should be on your pc. It has alerted me a couple of times when start up entries have been added sneakily. Its a big thumbs up from me.
I consider WinPatrol more like a HIDS than a HIPS and since i already have a HIPS i don't think it is necessary at all.
I like WP for some of it's features (esp. as an info and simple startup monitoring tool) but I won't compare it to "HIPS" like Comodo, Online Armor, etc. I have the Plus version and use it on an ON and OFF basis. I'm not using it atm though.
I don't need it on my XP machine, but will try it when I get Win7. "WinPatrol works its best under Windows 7 but is still the world's most optimized monitor for Windows XP & Vista systems."
I paid full price for WP last year, but eventually realized that I do not need it. It's slow to react even with realtime monitoring enabled, and more often, it doesn't react at all. Oh well, live and learn!
I use the plus version, but don't love it. I love my pc, but not Scotty . What were you thinking? It's only software!