What is Windows One Care Beta?

[Guest]

I tried to send a sibling to a site to download the software that is the
subject of this community, Microsoft Antispyware (MAS). This is where she
started:


http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/default.mspx

When she hit the icon to go to the antispyware download site it took her to
a new product, Windows Microsoft One Care (beta) (MOC). It appears to be a
more inclusive product thant MAS, and includes a firewall and antivirus
software as well as antispyware. Since it requires unloading all of your
present third party security software like Symnatec's and SPYBOT before
loading it, I advised her not to start with that, and found a url for the
download site for MAS. However, it is interesting, and I'm trying to decide
if I should give it a trial. Specifically,

1. Is the antispyware in MAS and MOC generally the same, or do they use
different approaches?
2. If they differ, what are the relative benefits of each?

 

[Bill Sanderson]

Answered in another group, I believe

OneCare is expected to eventually incorporate the same antispyware
technology as will be available as beta2 (Windows Defender.)

 

[JoeM]

One Care will be a paid product, OneCare will use the Windows Defender
interface.

 

[Anonymous Bob]

I tried to send a sibling to a site to download the software that is the
subject of this community, Microsoft Antispyware (MAS). This is where she
started:


http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/default.mspx

When she hit the icon to go to the antispyware download site it took her to
a new product, Windows Microsoft One Care (beta) (MOC). It appears to be a
more inclusive product thant MAS, and includes a firewall and antivirus
software as well as antispyware. Since it requires unloading all of your
present third party security software like Symnatec's and SPYBOT before
loading it, I advised her not to start with that, and found a url for the
download site for MAS. However, it is interesting, and I'm trying to decide
if I should give it a trial. Specifically,

1. Is the antispyware in MAS and MOC generally the same, or do they use
different approaches?
2. If they differ, what are the relative benefits of each?

OneCare includes anti-virus, firewall, tune-up, and backup. It seems to
target users with little knowledge and is about as hands off as they can
make it. As mentioned above anti-spyware will be added. It lacks in control
and configuration, but that's due to its hands off nature.

See here for more:
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+security+service+to+ship+in+June/2100-7350_3-6036290.html

Bob Vanderveen

 

[Bill Sanderson]

Pricing was apparently announced today:

I hear $50 a year for up to 3 machines in a home setting.

$20 for users taking part in the beta before April 2006.

And the program manager had the gall to state that Microsoft would be
"lenient" about the 3 machine limit because they won't have the code for
removing machines from the system available for the initial release. (In
other words, build market share via encouraging piracy.)

I haven't found a reference to this data yet--sorry--perhaps it is already
posted.

--

 

[Bill Sanderson]

Microsoft Announces OneCare Live Pricing, Schedule
by Paul Thurrott, (e-mail address removed)

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced the pricing structure for Windows
OneCare Live, its upcoming subscription-based safety and security
software service for Windows XP users. Additionally, the company
revealed its expected timetable for delivering the service to
consumers.

Microsoft describes OneCare Live as a PC health service that runs
continually in the background on a PC, providing round-the-clock
protection and maintenance capabilities. The product includes a
virus scanner and a two-way firewall, performs various system
tune-ups, and has a data backup feature. Later this year,
Microsoft will also integrate OneCare Live with Windows Defender,
the company's antispyware solution.

Dennis Bonsall, a Microsoft group product manager, told me last
week that Microsoft would deliver another round of beta versions
for of OneCare Live in late February and April 2006, then deliver
the product to consumers in June 2006. OneCare Live will cost
$49.95 a year and will protect as many as three PCs as part of
its home licensing, although Bonsall noted that the initial
version of the software will be liberal about letting users
install the product on more than three PCs because Microsoft
won't introduce a PC deauthorization feature until a later
release.

"We're treating this as a subscription, not a fixed purchase,"
Bonsall said. "That's driven by customer feedback: People find
the yearly upgrade process with security software to be
confusing." Additionally, Microsoft will include free phone,
email, and online chat-based support with every OneCare Live
subscription. Microsoft tested all three support formats during
the beta period and found that testers enjoyed all of the
formats. Speaking of testers, those who beta-tested OneCare Live
will be able to purchase the final product for $19.95 during the
first year if they purchase a subscription during April 2006.
After that, the price reverts to the standard $49.95. "It's an
appreciation thing," Bonsall said. "A number of testers have
given us valuable feedback. It's just the right thing to do."

One feature that will be missing from OneCare Live is the
integration of email client-based antispam technology. Microsoft
told me that most of its customers are happy with the antispam
features their email provider or ISP offers, and that including
an antispam function in OneCare Live would be redundant. Looking
to the future, Bonsall tells me that new versions of OneCare Live
will be more configurable and customizable and will offer more
seamless integration with Windows Defender (the initial OneCare
Live version will ship before Windows Defender is finalized).
Customers can download updates of OneCare Live from Microsoft's
Web site, so they won't have to wait for future versions to get
new functionality.

The final version of OneCare Live will be compatible only with
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2), although Windows Vista will
also support OneCare Live when Vista ships in late 2006. OneCare
Live will be available as a Web download and also sold in retail
and online stores. The initial version of the product will be
localized to English and available only to the US market, but
Microsoft expects to begin international beta testing by the end
of 2006.

Many readers have asked me to provide a OneCare Live review or
preview, and after discussing this with Microsoft, I've elected
to wait until after the February beta release to do so. At that
time, all the new features should be included in the release and
we'll see a more complete version of the product.

--

 

[Guest]

MS provide us, at a cost , with an operating system that is full of holes for
bugs and trojans to invade. Then they sell us a product by subscription to
clean up our machines.

ARE WE NUTS TO FALL FOR THIS SCAM???????

 

[DotCom]

So is Windows 2000 being left out of the picture?
dot

Microsoft Announces OneCare Live Pricing, Schedule
by Paul Thurrott, (e-mail address removed)

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced the pricing structure for Windows
OneCare Live, its upcoming subscription-based safety and security
software service for Windows XP users. Additionally, the company
revealed its expected timetable for delivering the service to
consumers.

Microsoft describes OneCare Live as a PC health service that runs
continually in the background on a PC, providing round-the-clock
protection and maintenance capabilities. The product includes a
virus scanner and a two-way firewall, performs various system
tune-ups, and has a data backup feature. Later this year,
Microsoft will also integrate OneCare Live with Windows Defender,
the company's antispyware solution.

Dennis Bonsall, a Microsoft group product manager, told me last
week that Microsoft would deliver another round of beta versions
for of OneCare Live in late February and April 2006, then deliver
the product to consumers in June 2006. OneCare Live will cost
$49.95 a year and will protect as many as three PCs as part of
its home licensing, although Bonsall noted that the initial
version of the software will be liberal about letting users
install the product on more than three PCs because Microsoft
won't introduce a PC deauthorization feature until a later
release.

"We're treating this as a subscription, not a fixed purchase,"
Bonsall said. "That's driven by customer feedback: People find
the yearly upgrade process with security software to be
confusing." Additionally, Microsoft will include free phone,
email, and online chat-based support with every OneCare Live
subscription. Microsoft tested all three support formats during
the beta period and found that testers enjoyed all of the
formats. Speaking of testers, those who beta-tested OneCare Live
will be able to purchase the final product for $19.95 during the
first year if they purchase a subscription during April 2006.
After that, the price reverts to the standard $49.95. "It's an
appreciation thing," Bonsall said. "A number of testers have
given us valuable feedback. It's just the right thing to do."

One feature that will be missing from OneCare Live is the
integration of email client-based antispam technology. Microsoft
told me that most of its customers are happy with the antispam
features their email provider or ISP offers, and that including
an antispam function in OneCare Live would be redundant. Looking
to the future, Bonsall tells me that new versions of OneCare Live
will be more configurable and customizable and will offer more
seamless integration with Windows Defender (the initial OneCare
Live version will ship before Windows Defender is finalized).
Customers can download updates of OneCare Live from Microsoft's
Web site, so they won't have to wait for future versions to get
new functionality.

The final version of OneCare Live will be compatible only with
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2), although Windows Vista will
also support OneCare Live when Vista ships in late 2006. OneCare
Live will be available as a Web download and also sold in retail
and online stores. The initial version of the product will be
localized to English and available only to the US market, but
Microsoft expects to begin international beta testing by the end
of 2006.

Many readers have asked me to provide a OneCare Live review or
preview, and after discussing this with Microsoft, I've elected
to wait until after the February beta release to do so. At that
time, all the new features should be included in the release and
we'll see a more complete version of the product.

--

 

[Bill Sanderson]

Windows Defender (the final name for Microsoft Antispyware) will continue to
be available without additional cost.

OneCare is a subscription product which includes antivirus protection, as
well as antispyware and backup components. This is something which was
never a part of current Windows versions, although there was an antivirus in
an older Windows version for a time.

--

 

[Bill Sanderson]

I can see folks are misinterpreting this post--sorry about this.

Yes--as far as OneCare is concerned, Windows 2000 is left out of the
picture. The number of home user desktops running Windows 2000 is quite
small, by comparison to the rest of the market, I suspect.

http://windowsonecare.com/

However, as far as Windows Defender (the final name for Microsoft
Antispyware) Windows 2000 is definitely included as a version for which the
product will be available without additional charge.

Windows Defender will be available for Windows versions--Windows 2000 or
newer--and without additional charge.

The same technology will be a part of several other products--Windows
OneCare Live, and Microsoft Client Protection--which will have varying
platform requirements, and costs. Microsoft Client Protection will also
include Windows 2000 as a target platform.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/solutions/security/clientprotection/default.mspx

See final question in faq linked from the above document

--