Antivirus API

[minthaka]

I was wondering how could an honest and sane person plan an operation's system with built in antivirus API. You would plan to create a system with the least possible vulnerability aren't you? But our Beloved is planning to have viruses on his product. Weird isn't?

[bigtomrodney]

Before Vista was released there was some uproar about anti-virus vendors not being able to run at kernel level as no application would be able to.

Of course Anti-virus vendors went mad. But here's the thing and I'm with Microsoft on this - the only reason anti-virus companies exist is because of a lacking in operating systems, or more specifically an operating system in particular. So the OS guys finally make a sane and sensible decision to become more secure and the Anti-virus guys kick up a fuss. That's not right.

If I own a business and sell well, when demand falls I can't force people to buy it. I can't block anyone from buying competitor's products. I can't demand a market slot. But that is exactly when Symantec and McAfee did in this case.

In this day and age anti-virus software should only exist as a make-sure or for the paranoid. Making it essential to use your computer is ridiculous.

[minthaka]

But for me, this story about viruses and anti-viruses reminds me on Chicago gangs. "Would you pay us, and then we'll spare your store and protect from others, and in other case...". Every brand has its clients: those who are 'protected' by Kaspersky, by AVG, NOD32 etc. The same scenario with different techniques.

[bigvoo]

my (former) computer that was running xp installed, came with mcafee, I chose to use another product. at the time i dumped xp for ubuntu, there was still mcafee folders all over that hard drive that could not be removed, I'd delete them and theyd come back at reboot, I ran several tools, and none could get get rid of those folders. I'm in the paranoid class of computer owner. I ran a sheilds up, and it came back as " Unusually well protected" and that comp still got blown up by cdomx. I think this is the main reason linux will rule the world soon. viruses and spyware is out of control in the windows world.