MS "Enters" Antivirus Market

Post #105,593 by altmann 6/10/03 6:59:24 PM Reply	MS "Enters" Antivirus Market Much like a knife enters its victim: [link\|http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/Jun03/06-10GeCadPR.asp\|http://www.microsoft.../06-10GeCadPR.asp] Microsoft Corp. today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the intellectual property and technology assets of GeCAD Software Srl., a provider of antivirus technology based in Bucharest, Romania. Microsoft\ufffds acquisition of GeCAD\ufffds technology will help secure customers by providing antivirus solutions for Microsoft\ufffd products and services. In addition to developing new solutions, Microsoft will use the GeCAD engineering expertise and technology to enhance the Windows\ufffd platform and extend support for third-party antivirus vendors so they can provide customers with increasingly secure and comprehensive levels of virus protection. -- Chris Altmann
Post #105,598 by mmoffitt 6/10/03 8:36:47 PM Reply	What??? Oh! I just read your subject header and thought they had decided that IIS,Outlook,Exchange,Outlook Express, ISA Server and Internet Explorer had "reached the end of their life cycles." bcnu, Mikem The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. - Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
Post #105,677 by jb4 6/11/03 9:42:16 AM Reply	chuckle In our Wildest Dreams! jb4 "We continue to live in a world where all our know-how is locked into binary files in an unknown format. If our documents are our corporate memory, Microsoft still has us all condemned to Alzheimer's." Simon Phipps, SUN Microsystems
Post #105,788 by a6l6e6x 6/11/03 8:36:45 PM Reply	You can never go wrong about MS by assuming the worst. [link\|http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/06/11/HNrav_1.html\|\t Microsoft to kill popular Linux antivirus product]. SAN FRANCISCO - Users and resellers of RAV AntiVirus, popular especially on Linux platforms, are in limbo after Microsoft Corp. announced plans to buy the RAV technology from Romania's GeCAD Software Srl. The RAV product line will be discontinued after Microsoft completes the acquisition of the technology, Microsoft said. GeCAD, which claims its products protect over 10 million users worldwide, will support current customers through the end of their contracts, Microsoft said. The acquisition has observers questioning Microsoft's ultimate intentions and wondering what the Redmond, Washington, software maker wants with technology that powers leading virus scanning tools for e-mail servers on Linux platforms, rivals to Microsoft's Windows and Exchange products. "I don't know why Microsoft bought a Linux company, GeCAD's Windows business is really small compared to their Linux business," said Andreas Marx, an antivirus software expert at the University of Magdeburg in Magdeburg, Germany. Marx has just completed a test of GeCAD's antivirus software for Linux and found that GeCAD "is really the best antivirus solution for Linux." Alex "Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life." -- Eric Hoffer
Post #105,819 by jbrabeck 6/12/03 9:19:00 AM Reply	Duh! "I don't know why Microsoft bought a Linux company, GeCAD's Windows business is really small compared to their Linux business," said Andreas Marx, an antivirus software expert at the University of Magdeburg in Magdeburg, Germany. is answered two paragraphs earlier. The RAV product line will be discontinued after Microsoft completes the acquisition of the technology, Microsoft said. How better to kill an OS than to first kill off all tools and software for it. Think OS/2. When they took the Fourth Amendment, I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs. When they took the Fifth Amendment, I was quiet because I was innocent. When they took the Second Amendment, I was quiet because I didn't own a gun. Now they've taken the First Amendment, and I can't say anything about it.
Post #106,427 by Steven A S 6/18/03 9:15:08 AM Reply	Also a good way... <theory type="conspiracy">to find the viruses that are a concern to Linux. Of course MS will deny any involvement in the upcoming Linux viruses, and promptly fire any employee that is publically discovered to have propagated such a virus. <theory> ~~~)-Steven---- "I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country..." General George S. Patton
Post #106,594 by Ashton 6/19/03 6:24:48 PM Reply	Such thinking could get you A new Hummer A corner office An impressive Title, Evangelist for Extralegal Excellence Face time with Billy, Bally (and a bonobo being groomed for management) Maybe even - your very own trap-door in XP-II
Post #106,669 by jb4 6/20/03 10:46:00 AM Reply	Re: Such thinking Maybe even - your very own trap-door in XP-II More like, your own trap door in XBox II. After all, playing games is what it's all about, isn't it? jb4 "We continue to live in a world where all our know-how is locked into binary files in an unknown format. If our documents are our corporate memory, Microsoft still has us all condemned to Alzheimer's." Simon Phipps, SUN Microsystems
Post #106,826 by ben_tilly 6/21/03 4:58:08 PM Reply	I am amazed No, really. I would think that the liability consequences would deter them from that line of business. Perhaps they think that they can control enough legislators to head that risk off? Cheers, Ben "good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not" - [link\|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html\|Stefano Mazzocchi]
Post #106,834 by Andrew Grygus 6/21/03 6:46:26 PM Reply	That was my thought . . . . expressed in my 2003 article, subsequently ammended. I think the thought of endlessly repetative income was just too much for them. Once they have people subscribed for antivirus updates, they can start adding other services. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #106,839 by orion 6/21/03 6:55:20 PM Reply	The Bucket idea Just like Baby Bells bundle local, long distance, DSL, and Wireless plans into one bucket, Microsoft may want to bundle services together like that. They can start out with Anti-Virus services, and then offer more, like adding on features to the OS or Office or other software packages. What used to be the Plus pack, is now a subscription service to get extra features with the OS. They can sell Longhorn in pieces and updates only to subscribers. First Anti-Virus services into the bucket, and then Longhorn feature updates, and then Office feature updates, etc. Until they have a full bucket that companies can subscribe to. I suppose in a way they will carefully word the EULA so that nobody can own the software, they can ony rent or lease it, and then Microsoft owns the software and provides subscribers with updates and the right to keep using it. I wonder how much of this BS Corporations will continue to shallow before they start looking into alternatives to Microsoft software?

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