Any Input on Microsoft Live ??

Are you asking about the Microsoft Security Suite " Windows Live OneCare" for XP/Vista?

If so- an excellent question!

 

This product has not been discussed much in this forum, except in passing. I too would be interested in users' experiences, particularly with respect to user-friendliness.

 

I haven't tried it myself- at about $60 it's a bit pricey, and I'm not a fan of suites. It does offer one potential advantage- since it comes from MS, one might expect all the components to co-exist well together on a Windows operating system. Also included is a 2-way firewall. It actually seems more of a service than a suite, with highly integrated automatic updates, and free upgrades.

 

Its antivirus capabilities have been tested by at least 2 independent organizations over the past year; av-comparatives summarizes its findings and compares OneCare to other mainstream AVs here. It seems to have improved a lot since its introduction. This review echoes the findings at Virus Bulletin, where OneCare failed basic AV certification in Feb/07, but passed in June/07.

 

As security suites go, OneCare does not seem to be a popular choice, judging by polls conducted at Wilders Security Forums over 2007/2008. When asked "What security suite do you run?", OneCare received no votes from over 150 respondents. Not very scientific, not a large poll, and probably influenced by the relatively recent introduction of this product. More interesting is the fact that over 40% preferred to avoid suites, and choose their own components.

 

At least one reviewer (Paul Thurrott) highly recommended it, in this somewhat dated review.

 

For those that prefer the simplicity of the "all-in-one" suite, and don't mind paying for it, this would seem a logical choice to at least try.

I don't really know much about this which is why I posted this question. I was told it worked really well to clean out virus' and has a good firewall and was told it was at Walmart for $30. i was looking for input before I decided wether or not to purchase it.

@ oldfield:

 

Thanks George. Once you've had a chance to run OneCare through the hoops, I'm sure many here would be interested in your thoughts.