14 DAY TRIAL // Since Microsoft has announced its intent to get involved on the market of security and administering products, we have accustomed ourselves with the idea of safe computing. For this purpose, Microsoft has started to acquire different companies to simplify the developing of the solutions, the most important names being GeCAD and Sybari. Still, what is planning? Will it improve the security structure included into Windows or has already oriented towards more complex security solutions, similar to the suites developed by Symantec, McAfee or Computer Associates?
Windows OneCare seems to be Microsoft's answer to the user's security needs, and the solution will come as a subscription-based service which will provide security, maintenance and tuning features for the computers running Windows. For now, the service will be tested on a large scale by Microsoft's employees, and OneCare's commercial availability will start during this year. The fee for this security service hasn't been announced yet, but it's estimated that Microsoft plans to employ a annual subscription payment method.
Symantec and McAfee are the main companies to be affected by this product, but their clearly superior experience should counteract OneCare. Microsoft's solutions have a bad reputation from stability and security point of view, and a suite of applications designed to better the functioning of the entire system bearing Microsoft's signature could be regarded with circumspection.
By 2007, the value of this market will reach $4.4 billion and Microsoft couldn't miss the opportunity to take a consistent slice out of this security cake.