Main concern is about what Microsoft is going to do with all the data people will put into online Office applications and such....
What happens if any business is going to use this stuff ? What if a shareware programmer uses online Windows and Office and stores valuable data about his own work ?
What about banks, financial consulting agencies, government agencies and so on ?

I think the Bush Administration should ban this Big Brother thing that Bill Gates is going to push people into now, before it's too late. This communistic Big Brother dictatorial approach to computing which cancels the Personal Computing concept and private property it's just like a disease, it would destroy democracy and capitalism as we know them and let Mr. Bill Gates rule the world soon or later....

Are you kidding me? "Big Brother thing"?

Okay, here's what you need to do, sit down, shut up and never speak again. I'm sick of people like you whining about what MS might do with so-called information they collect from their websites, windows, office or w/e else you guys can come up with. Is it possible they are just creating a tool to help consumers/business or whoever the hell wants to use it keep their computers safe? Could it be???!!!

Moron.

P.S. - I sincerely hope you were joking, I've never seen such a stupid and mindless comment.

Don't hold back - tell us how you really feel :)

It isn't mandatory!! Chill out. It is not like he is installing spyware/adware. He is removing it. If you can find any instance of the other, let us know.

You are better off attacking those companies intentionally installing spyware and phishing techniques to obtain information illegally. The act of spyware, viruses, and adware is nothing more than a business out of control.

Sounds like you have issues with Gates and Bush personally.

No I wasn't joking. Several reasons. #1 I needed some help to access data and passwords on my computer. MS got me into my computer with admin access in less than 1 minute. (No I won't tell you the commands that did it) #2. On broadband they have access to almost everything on the drives if you haven't been very careful in locking it down. As to what they might do with the data...we all know of admin level abuses and data theft even within MS itself.

Actually I am a Republican supporter, so my only issue with the Bush Administration is when they don't do what has to be done in order to stop the communistic '68 world-dominance thing that Bill Gates has been allowed to build up during the infamous Clinton Era. (when IBM OS/2 got smashed thanks to federal government help to Microsoft in many ways...)

If you and other people here just can't see what's really going on with Bill Gates and Microsoft, what they are trying to accomplish and you think that they are true capitalists, well, then either you are involved in their false capitalistic business to blame or you are just too naive and keep getting tricked by the Microsoft infamous marketing hype which only created less capitalism, higher prices, more burocratic rules, less customers rights and more Bill Gates world dominance....

Doesn't this look a bit like the subscription update sevice that we heard about a bit back? It was supposed to be introduced for free for a year or so and then be changed to a monthly pay subscription service. And I don't believe that I will authorize MS or anybody else that kind of access to what is on my computer. I realize the EULA already gives them way too much access now, but this continual errosion of privacy is simply getting out of control.

Perhaps you need to READ THE EULA before making such a comment...the results of the scan are not forced to be recorded by MS either, unlike every other online virus scanner I've seen. MS is the least of your worries on this one.

Wow--looks good. Funny the site went down briefly just now (well it is beta)...anyway looks good. Reminds me of http://housecall.trendmicro.com 's new scanner, but this seems to give better detail and options. Nifty.

EDIT: In response to people's privacy concerns, compare Trend Micro's EULA to Microsoft's. Trust me, there's nothing to be worried about with Microsoft's scanner.

exactly!!! They are finally realizing the importance of offering such a service to customers. They are going to win a lot of people over this. I think it is a good idea, but feel that it will take away some of the service industries profits from removing adware/spyware from residential and small business customers. (Me for example) However, it is a great move.

I, for one, would utilize this site as well as send customers the URL for an initial checkup on their PC before contacting the yellow pages for IT help. I haven't been able to check some of the sites they are suggesting(if they are) for additional products though.

I think this is great.

I'm not sure if I like online stuff yet (meaning like online applications) but it would be cool.

I think being able to log in to a site and get office applications and email might be cool.

Soon people will not have to worry about backing up their own PC because it will all be "up there".

Interesting to say the least. :)

Yeah. I'm looking forward to that day too. The only real concern I would have is privacy. Will it really be safe to store financial records, etc. in an online "Excel"?

It's obviously going to be a lot of work to get these services working, secure, and practical.

Think about how hard it is to keep things secure on your own PC, now think of it with millions of people trying to get it every day. Do you think that security will win or the hackers?

I wonder where privicy come in to this
it coudl create a nice hole for someone to slip through

See above comment (about the EULA)

Well when you put it like that....

yikes.

Microsoft gadfly

Come again?

gadfly:

1. A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.
2. One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.
3. Any of various flies, especially of the family Tabanidae, that bite or annoy livestock and other animals.

I think he's calling the guy a troll, but I didn't see anything particularly trollish other than the standard "Privacy!" BS.

This is interesting. OneCare does all this, but offline (of course it still requires a subscription to an online service).

I guess this is a free version of it? (OneCare is subscription software.)

HAHAHA This is rich. IE won't let me view the site. Firefox does.

if you can do all that from an active X control than why do you wonder why there is a security issue?

Did you have something to contribute to the story?

Active X controls can only be installed if the user agrees to it.

OOOHHHH!! BUT THOSE UNPATCHED SECURITY HOLES IN WINDOWS!!! (sarcasm)

EDIT: I see someone has already posted a non-sarcastic reply despite my satirical comment...

"That is a good one. How do you think most browser hijacks and spyware installations occur?"

By the user agreeing to have them installed, that's the whole point! If they have Windows XP Gold (no service packs), then they could get hijacked without agreeing, but if I use FireFox 1.0 or Opera 4, the same type of thing could happen. You think FF is safe because it does not use ActiveX? Plugins can be just as dangerous--what if a vulnerability allows plugins to be installed without your knowledge on FF? With the latest Internet Explorer the user must agree *twice* before installing an ActiveX component.

"Active X controls can only be installed if the user agrees to it."

That is a good one. How do you think most browser hijacks and spyware installations occur....

Yeah ok.

See the last paragraph of the comment below this. It will show you the light.