• Chart: OneCare vs. Built-in Windows Utilities
• Illustration: Windows OneCare Live Status

Windows OneCare Live, Microsoft's first security and PC health subscription service, will have an updated beta in Mar. 2006 and be released to consumers in June at a price of US$50 per year for installation on up to three computers. However, the first release will not be a totally integrated set of utilities, and it is not clear that Microsoft will be any more successful than its partners in getting customers to pay every year to keep the product up-to-date.

Windows OneCare Live

Windows OneCare Live is designed to improve the security and performance of Windows and keep the OS running optimally by detecting and removing malicious software and automatically performing periodic housekeeping tasks. Its features are divided into Protection Plus and Performance Plus categories.

Protection Plus provides protection against malicious software, including the following:

• An antivirus scanning engine to detect and remove viruses, worms, and Trojans
• A firewall to monitor inbound and outbound network traffic
• Integration with the existing Microsoft Update service to ensure Windows and other Microsoft applications such as Office are properly patched
• Automated updating of OneCare to detect new and evolving malicious software, as well as to update OneCare itself
• Assistance in backing up files to removable media or an auxiliary hard drive.

The first version of OneCare will also provide protection from spyware through Windows Defender, Microsoft's free antispyware product, but the integration of Defender and OneCare will not be completed until a subsequent OneCare release—instead, users will be prompted to download and install Defender during the setup process for OneCare.

Performance Plus improves the reliability and responsiveness of Windows with the following features:

• Automatic removal of files, such as temporary files, when they are no longer needed
• Ensuring each file is stored in contiguous sectors on the hard drive (a process called "defragmenting"), which improves performance
• Monitoring system boot or startup times to proactively find problems loading Windows.

Although many of these services are already built into Windows, a key goal of OneCare is to make them easier to use, particularly for less-sophisticated users. (For more information on the features and how they are improved, see "OneCare vs. Built-in Windows Utilities".)

OneCare's primary advantage over the built-in Windows utilities is the status page, which resembles the built-in Windows Security Center added in Windows XP SP2. It provides a single place to display security and housekeeping status information and to determine whether all the necessary services are automatically protecting and tuning Windows. For example, the OneCare status page can tell the user about new files that need to be backed up; the user can take appropriate action (such as starting a backup) directly from the status page. (For an illustration of the status page, see "Windows OneCare Live Status".)

Microsoft has configured each service with a reasonable set of defaults so that a typical user should not have to perform any configuration. However, sophisticated users can access dialog boxes that allow them to make configuration changes, such as setting the time of day for OneCare to perform an automatic tune-up.

OneCare will also display information about new threats by displaying advisories with information about significant new worms, viruses, or other security threats, and explaining what action the user needs to take to ensure continued protection on the status page.

Partner Impact

Until now, Microsoft has relied on partners such as McAfee, Symantec, and Trend-Micro to supply many of the services included in OneCare, particularly detecting and removing viruses and spyware. Microsoft estimates that as many as 70% of PC users do not have up-to-date software for detecting and removing malicious software on their computers.

This lack of protection is not due to a lack of access to such programs: the vast majority of new PCs come preinstalled with antivirus and antispyware products, which give customers access to free updates for a period of several months to a year. Rather, the real problem is getting customers to renew (and pay for) their subscriptions for ongoing updates. All security programs remind customers to renew as the end of their subscriptions approach, but there is no evidence that Microsoft will be better able to convince OneCare subscribers to renew their OneCare subscriptions, even with its powerful brand.

Microsoft says that customers typically don't convert a free trial of antivirus or antispyware to a paid one or renew at the end of a subscription period. Most users don't understand the value of the software, and they don't really understand that they have to renew in order to get updated virus and spyware signatures, the telltale markers that identify specific threats. Because Microsoft offers both malicious software protection and improved PC health, and because OneCare has an ongoing interaction with the consumer via the status dialog boxes and other health indicators, Microsoft believes consumers will better understand what they're losing if they don't renew their OneCare subscriptions.

But security vulnerabilities are creating negative perceptions about Microsoft's products. A dramatic expansion in more organized and professional spyware and phishing attacks in recent years has left many users wary about using computers or of encouraging inexpert family members to use them. Given the number of vulnerable computers, Microsoft is justified in stepping in to try to fill the large gap of unprotected computers.

Coverage Gaps

Microsoft will only offer OneCare for Windows XP SP2 and Vista, continuing to leave support for older versions of Windows to partners.

The company has indicated that although Vista will have advanced security features, OneCare will not be built into the upcoming OS. Customers will require additional software from Microsoft or other vendors to protect against threats.

In addition, Microsoft will need to prove that its service is at least on par with those already in the marketplace. Although it has extensive experience in patching vulnerabilities in its software, its patches usually go through several weeks of testing before they are released to users. Commercial antivirus vendors, on the other hand, usually respond to critical threats (such as a new Trojan horse attack) within days. Microsoft will have to show consumers that OneCare can be as reliable as proven products from partners.

Availability and Resources

Windows OneCare Live is available free to new beta testers in the United States. It currently runs on Windows XP SP2 and will run on Windows Vista in the future. Microsoft plans to have international versions of OneCare in beta over the next year. Microsoft has not indicated whether it will negotiate with computer manufacturers to offer OneCare preinstalled on new computers.

Customers can install OneCare on up to three computers (within a single house) for US$50 per year. Single PC licenses are not available, so a family with one computer will still pay US$50, and one with four computers will have to acquire two three-computer subscriptions.

To reward customers for helping with the OneCare beta program, Microsoft will offer subscribers who are enrolled in the beta between Apr. 1 and Apr. 30, 2006, a discounted rate of US$20 for the first year. Support for OneCare, which is included in the annual subscription, will be available from Microsoft product support via phone, e-mail, or chat.

The beta download and additional information are available at www.windowsonecare.com.