RSSSecurity Firms Commit to Vista
By Ed Oswald | Published January 17, 2007, 12:59 PM
It now appears as if security companies and Microsoft have settled their differences and will work together on the consumer launch of Windows Vista. Several leading manufacturers have committed to launch Vista-compatible versions of their software by January 30.
At least two of the companies who had earlier chastised Microsoft over Vista security, McAfee and Symantec, were among those listed as committing to Vista compatibility. Others included CA, Kaspersky, Panda Software, and Trend Micro, among others.
Symantec was first to complain about Vista's built-in security features in September, saying it gave precedence to Microsoft's own software over those from third-parties. Additionally, the company took issue with PatchGuard, a feature aimed at protecting critical system files.
McAfee would add its two cents the following month, taking out a full-page ad in the Financial Times, accusing Microsoft of locking security companies out of the kernel.
That company's tune appeared to change Tuesday. ""McAfee is excited to support its customers with Windows Vista compatibility," product management director Marc Solomon said in statements provided by Microsoft. Symantec did not comment however.
Although some may beg to differ, Microsoft says it has worked closely with its partners to provide technical support and development resources. The operating system will include several built in security features, including Windows Defender, User Account Control, Windows Firewall, Parental Controls, and phishing protection built into IE7.
The case is pretty much so mute to me. I use free firewall and anti-virus software. Though there are many that say neither are necessary if you avoid certain types of webpages such as warez and porn.
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Guess the realised there wasn't really any option? Whether they liked PatchGuard or not, if they didn't run with it, they were screwed. :p
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Symantec is pretty evil. They are still dogging one of Vista's most important saftey features. UAC is more of a pain than Windows users are used to, but if they made the switch to Mac they'd have to face it too. People will get used to it. My friend got hammered by a bunch of spyware because he turned it off.
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It's no where near as intrusive on a Mac. Microsoft will need to make UAC improvements before they will see the majority of consumers leaving it on.
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The vast majority of users (the average Joe) will leave it on simply because their shiny new PC will come with 95% of software they'll ever need preinstalled... And no sane techy will leave the feature "off" on a PC he's working on. He may turn it off while upgrading/installing stuff there, but just before he leaves the PC to the mercy of his clueless friend/family-member - he will turn it back on. Otherwise he will be shooting himself in the leg...
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ESET's NOD32 already has a vista compatible. Works fine on my Vista RC2 build without any problems.
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I don't believe ESET ever had an issue, at least not publicly, concerning Windows Vista's security features.
Still having some issues with the time it takes to scan downloaded files. It's been an issue since their new "threat detection" bit was put into the client. Hopefully their working on it, but I haven't seen much about it on their sites.
It should definitely not take 30 seconds to scan a 100K rar file.
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