14 DAY TRIAL // The only thing we know about Microsoft's security service is that the testing is being carried out by the company's employees.
Microsoft's involvement on the market of PC security and maintenance is not a surprise, considering that in 2002, Bill Gates introduced the concept of trustworthy computing.
The company from Redmond has acquired several companies specialized in the production of antiviruses and firewall programs, among which GeCAD and Sybari.
Windows OneCare wants to be more than a security solution, and it seems Microsoft is planning to offer a product that resembles Symantec's Norton System Works. Many think it will be difficult to convince the users that a newly launched product based on technologies developed by other companies can be better than a product of a producer with a lot of history in this domain.
To make users switch to Windows OneCare, Microsoft will have to deal with the image of a company famous for the countless security breaches.
Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, a product designed to protect users from malicious codes, wasn't a big success either and didn't rise to the level of solutions like AdAware or Spybot.
Another problem faced by Windows OneCare and implicitly Microsoft in its attempt to become the doctor of PCs is related to prices. To promote its product, Microsoft will be forced to offer smaller prices than the competition or even free versions. Otherwise, the company will be just like a hardware producer that offers you a PC, and then forces you to rent from him the mouse and the keyboard, his components being the only ones compatible with what you have bought.
If Symantec or McAffee are capable of dealing with the price competition, Windows OneCare has all the chances of becoming a disaster for small and medium enterprises whose activity domain is the maintenance of Microsoft's operating systems.
Microsoft's strategy to promote its product is still uncertain, but its success depends entirely on the users. In conclusion, let me ask you this: Would you use a security solution signed by Microsoft?