Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and bad news

Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and bad news

 

I only see a positive side.

Knowledgeable people, e.g. people here at Wilders, will choose their own AV in either case.

The novices won't as much as think about an AV in the first place.



The only bad thing I see is what's mentioned in the article; the Security Vendor's survival, but here's the beauty of it: now they really have to win their userbase, and so they have to come up with things that 'sticks out'.

 

This won't stop people from being infected by malware but its certainly better than nothing at all. Means that the people producing malware have to work slightly harder to infect computers now.

 

MSE was supposed to be included in 7 already, but due to antimonopol problems, it was not, so I wonder, how they are gonna to solve them now.

 

I very much doubt this will be accepted within the EU zone without some form of compromise.

The thing is that unlike the browser choice screen,the user could be faced with a long list of vendors to choose from causing more confusion.

 

Indeed, so we can expect something like N-version without WMP, but without MSE, I doubt than anybody will bother to buy it, but it will help to "improve" the price in EU.

 

It could be a case that something meant to make life easier does the opposite.

Given that an AV choice screen would likely be too confusing for most people;if they introduce an "AV free" European version it'll need to be explained in easy terms to the average user who's read about the built in AV in Windows 8,that this isn't necessarily the case.

 

Good news to users who have never installed any security programs.

 

IMO, it's good news

I don't know about outher counties but in Brazil, usually when you buy a notebook/desktop, it comes with an AV (90% of the time Macfee). And I'm pretty sure, Macfee price is included in those products.

Also, the license lasts for 1 year. In my personal experience, people with small knowledge, simple ignore the "you need to renew your license to restore full protection", eg. my mother in law and GF ehe.

 

IMO its a good thing and most OEM installed OS come with in your face Mcafee free for a limited time then forced to pay for continued protection,if its even activated to begin with.

Why not give the user free protection out of the box so to speak and enoying there new OS rather then cliking this and that just to get started.However a third party list of vendors offered can be usefull to those who may seek other choices now or in the future.

 

I don't see the issue. The people that don't care about AV or don't really know about it will continue to be protected for free and the people that do care can still simply install theirs.

 

I think its a good point. if you want you can change it to ur preference otherwise you would still be protected with good free AV

 

I dont see it as a big issue.
There are alot of users who have 30day trials of security suites and never renew them. microsoft spynet will become very powerful with the amount of users that could end up sticking with windows defender. it would help if it used less resources and had smaller updates but overall its alright.
cars come with a stereo but if you dont like it you can replace it with a third party model. windows defender its already included in the price so i dont see any harm. I dont think you can compare this to the bundling of IE since users are aware of the antivirus companies. I think the best approach would be to keep windows defender as an on demand scanner when another antivirus product is installed.

 

Exactly.

 

It,s grave news for security vendors I think.

 

Isn't it bad news for consumers ?

Such a move could potentially wipe out most of the competition.

McAfee and Symantec would probably survive.

But the others ?

 

I don't see why this would be the end of other antiviruses/antimalware applications?

Like user elapsed mentioned, those who aren't even aware of viruses and all that crap, and therefore not aware of antiviruses/antimalware, will be protected. Far from pefect, yes, but it's what happens with any antimalware application.

Everyone else will use what they've always used. What's the big deal? Get over it (security vendors).

I'm actually surprised that no other software vendor came with more crap on the European Union.

Wouldn't it be quite something if media players software developers, etc complained about Microsoft's monopoly?

I'm already picturing Adobe vs Microsoft. Microsoft implemented/is going to implement its own pdf reader, is it not? So what? Get over it Adobe, Foxit, etc!

And, any software vendor complaining about the introduction of xyz functionality in Windows MUST provide evidence that WITH such built-in functionality, users WILL NO LONGER use their alternatives.

The question is: Can they?

The Internet Explorer event was a damn fiasco... And, I'm pretty sure EU wanted to, somehow, teach some lesson to Microsoft.
But, let's no kid each other now - Now it's about Windows user's security. And, a security without ANY THIRD-PARTY crap! No bloody toolbars, etc.

Doesn't Microsoft have the right to protect their userbase? Doesn't the userbase have the right that Microsoft does whatever they can to protect them?

Or, must we have a non-protected operating system, just for the sake of third-parties making bucks out of it? Get real.

Can anyone imagine if when Opera started the complaint in EU, if they also complained about IE's Protected Mode, providing more protection? I mean, that was the only thing that was missing in the complaint. lol

What if Microsoft decides to introduce AppLocker to all Windows editions. Not likely to happen, but that's not the point. Would the security vendors force Microsoft to drop it? WTF?

I don't see other security vendors, developing anti-executable-like software, forcing Microsoft to drop AppLocker. This would be quite lame, wouldn't it?

 

m00n wins this thread.

 

+1

... and they have to lower their prices

 

Any av is better than none.

Acadia

 

Won't effect much as Windows is vulnerable to malware infection so still people will get infected. MSE is good but not really impressive as such. Bad news will be when majority of people will turn to Linux Other than that I don't find any reason for AV vendors to have problems.

 

Ha, keep dreaming. A built-in AV is only a threat to the free AV companies. I'm sure you've noticed that the free AV vendors in the Windows world also have paid versions. Picture this unlikely, but possible scenario: MS builds their AV into Windows. Now, we have two kinds of users, generally: Those who don't give a rats behind, and those that do. Those that don't (and there seems to be a lot more of them than the other group) will leave the AV in place and the free AV vendors could get left out in the cold.

The other group does care, but, hey, free is good right? So, they meander over to Avast/Avira/Panda Cloud because they are used to those guys in previous editions. "Yay, I'm supporting my vendor!...Hey..where'd the free edition go?". Again, that's not likely, but it's not an impossibility either. Think about it, free versions are increasingly adding in "gifts" in the forms of other services you don't need nor want, but must install if you want the free version. Toolbars that "enhance" security, social media buttons that are of course there to be clicked and include you in the vendors' marketing department (without pay ).

Free versions must be costing a pretty penny to keep going, and now, MS is adding their own AV, which, if good enough, will further leave free editions in the dust. There goes "choice", right? (unless you pay..and without free editions to choose from..guess who will start paying a little extra?) That leaves users in the cold, and vendors who actually very well might be a little miffed about users no longer needing to throw money at them every month/few months/year.

The EU thing can happen. God forbid any of the Pro edition security tools be available to all editions, and really God forbid MS makes it easy to use them. Then you might face Comodo, Defensewall, and so on going away. Heck, if they had thought/had the ability to throw a good virtualization system in as well, there goes Sandboxie. The EU is a nutty entity, there is absolutely no reason why they wouldn't entertain the idea of doing the same with AV vendors that they did with browser vendors.

You can't assume anything when it comes to corporations, governments, and courts.

 

Unless avast is lying, according to their website they have 172 million users. I suppose this includes users of free version and paid versions.

That's a lot of people to keep a business.

Would the free version ever end because of Windows Defender? I have my serious doubts. Did Windows Defender, the antispyware version, ever ended with other free antispyware applications, regardless of its efficiency? It didn't.

If avast free does end, we'd see how much avast users really love their beloved antivirus. Many defend the free version like hell, but would they actually pay for avast? (It's a rethorical question.)
Because, what I don't understand is, if these users do love their avast/other, wouldn't they pay for it? Maybe not...

I couldn't find numbers for AVG on their website. But, the same applies. Etc etc.

-edit-

This is a bit off-topic, but I'm trying to make a point.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-8-Reset-and-Refresh-Make-Reinstalling-Obsolete-221927.shtml

I hope software vendors proving backup utilities don't start crying over this. lol

By the way, did the fact Microsoft introduce a backup functionality in Windows 7 (not sure about Vista) ended with other software vendor's business?

Ouch! Luckily, Microsoft won't have to worry about COMODO with its snapshot utility. lol

 

Like better marketing strategies lol that's all that ever changes.

 

No body is arguing that MS is wrong. Ofcourse most will agree that it,s MS,s right to do whatever they want and whatever they think to be good for users. And I totally agree that all major things must be builtin into windows with less and less need for third party software for basic tasks needed for ordinary users.

We are just discussing about the impact on a huge business industry, that is security industry.