Microsoft OneCare

Microsoft continues to get serious about web 2.0 applications. The automatic(?) backup interests me. I am going to signup for the beta. The anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall features should attract a lot of customers putting the hurt on companies like McAfee and Norton.


REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 7, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced final licensing and pricing information for its soon-to-be-released Windows OneCare™ Live, the all-in-one, automatic and self-updating PC care service aimed at helping consumers more easily protect and maintain their PCs to keep them running well. Now available free to new beta testers in the United States, at http://ideas.live.com, Microsoft® Windows OneCare Live will be available in June from retailers and via the Web for an annual subscription of $49.95 MSRP for up to three personal computers. To thank its valuable beta customers and offer an easy transition to the paid service, Microsoft also announced today a promotional deal offering the first year of Windows OneCare Live service for $19.95 to beta customers who become subscribers between April 1 and April 30, 2006.

Protection Plus includes anti-virus and firewall protection and automatic updates, as well as anti-spyware functionality powered by Windows® Defender, to help protect the PC and the customer.

Performance Plus delivers regular PC tuneups to help maintain computer performance and reliability.

Backup and Restore delivers easy-to-use backup and restore functionality for the full PC.

Help and Support provides effective help when needed through a variety of modes — e-mail, phone and chat — with all service support coming from PC care experts at Microsoft for no additional charge.


Usage notes: Remember - this is a Beta program meaning it is not fully implemented, has bugs and is not guaranteed in any way. Use at your own risk....

I was hoping the backup would be to the Internet but instead it is to a CD/DVD or ext. hard disk attached to your computer. This is fine but I will continue to use Second Copy and True Image for my backups. The virus checker scanned my disks but no idea how good it is. The anti-spyware is their current free program which I already use. The Delete Unnecessary Files function is a nice little freeby but nothing special. It also does automatic updates to Windows and Office but you can do this already. A disk defragmenter is also included.

Overall - nice package, nothing outstanding but good value for $19.95 a year and maybe for $49 a year. Will run it for several months and see how it evolves. See my blog for updates.

Dick