Outgoing Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin posted a blog entry Friday apologizing for the confusion surrounding comments he made to reporters Wednesday about being so confident in Windows Vista's security that his seven-year-old son's PC had no antivirus software installed. Allchin acknowledged Friday that he wasn't as clear as he intended to be, saying he never meant to imply that Windows Vista does not need antivirus software, despite citing the example of his son's PC. "It's important for me that our customers are using the appropriate security solutions for the right situations, whether that's security functionality integrated in the operating systems, or add-on products," he said.
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Member since:2005-11-10
Apart from poisened images, iPods/CDs accidently with viruses on them, day-zero attacks. If you've no antivirus, how would you know if you had a silent, process-hidden keylogger that installed secretly via a USB thumb drive, e-mail attachment or poisen image? You can't verify that with certainty.
Windows Vista has protected processes - viruses of the future are not going to be able to be /detected/ with common sense.
You might be able to prevent a virus with common sense, but you can't always detect and remove them with it, when that accident does happen one day.
Member since:2006-11-09
My view anyway is that the biggest threat to a normal user is adware than anything else, I trust using SpySweeper way more than Norton anyday each edition of Norton just seems to get worse and offers no real improvements. Antivirus works for old threats doesn't prevent the ones that just are discovered or are undetected.
For me anyway I reallly don't think the antivirus software right now is doing a good enough job to on detecting the threats. Most of the antivirus systems by default today detect viruses by signatures some do have the ability to detect patterns but still is poor.
The antivirus software of today probably can not or can poorly detect rootkit level viruses that are hidden from the windows api.
If you have real comptuer experience you can remove adware, and other malware installed on an infected comptuer if you take the time to figure it out. The goal of the malware is to make money off you not to break the comptuer.
Member since:2005-07-06
<stay on clean websites
Yeah, since you always know that a website is clean even before ever going on it, right ?
Most users are "normal" users, and many of them are sub-"normal" users. _Anybody_ giving the advice not to use antivirus (and/or firewall app) under Windows is just as guilty as the guy that wrote that virus and/or trojan, just as those suggesting that by using them you suddenly get magically immune. Comments like I-never-needed-I'm-still-clean and just-use-common-sense are pretty much useless for most users, and for anybody else for that matter.
Member since:2006-05-12
Stay on clean websites?
But.... The Internet is for porn. ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5430343841227974645 )
Why would you limit yourself from using one of the fundamental functions of the Internet just to be able to say "I don't use Antivirus."
Seriously though, The whole point of computers is automation. Why would I rather look at my process list and do all this other shit just to avoid using an AV program. Let the PC do it for you.
Member since:
2006-11-09
Well yes if you are a normal user then you do need antivirus. But most of the comptuer virus problems out there today are just commen sense. Don't open email attachments, be wary giving permission to a program that asks for it, stay on clean websites.