Microsoft sinks in antivirus tests, as Avira, Bitdefender hit top scores
~!~ If you*re only running Microsoft*s in built antivirus service, you might want to think again//
The latest antivirus scores from the Madgeburg, Germany based testing lab AV Test ranks Windows Defender as the worst performing anti malware app out of the 22 most common consumer products testedWindows Defender, baked into the latest versions of Windows, scored just 9//5 points out of a total of 18//
~!~ Breaking down that figure, the scores show the app protected against 89 percent of existing widespread malware threats, and 95 percent of new zero day flaws// The app also scored a paltry score on performance, suggesting it hogs system resources, but scored top marks in user experience, indicating it is easy to use//
(ukcanadaus)
~!~ McAfee, Norton, and Trend Micro products fell short of top points with scores of 17//5, a de facto joint second place in the consumer rankings//The next version of Windows, which will start arriving tomorrow, won*t do a couple of the things that you*d normally expect a new operating system to do as standard//
~!~ It won*t immediately make Microsoft a lot of money from licences because it*s going to be a free download for the majority of consumers// And it won*t provide a much needed shot in the arm for PC sales either, because many existing PCs will be able to run it, sparing consumers the need to buy a new machine to use the new OS// Windows 10 is the clearest illustration yet of how much the business model around Windows has changed in just a few years//
~!~ What Windows 10 will do, however, is fix many of the perceived problems that made Windows 8 so hard to sell: even now, three years after launch, it only has scraped together a 13 percent share of the PC market, Windows 7 and Windows XP still outrank it, according to NetMarketShare//With Windows 8, Microsoft was generally considered to have put too much emphasis on making the OS look good on a tablet and not enough on making it work well on a PC, which is where it would mostly be used// This upset and confused Microsoft*s loyal customer base, Windows 10 walks that back, at least a bit//
(ukcanadaus)
~!~ Microsoft*s ambitions still reach beyond the PC, however// It eventually wants one billion devices to be running Windows 10 including smartphones and tablets, as well as PCs// From that point of view, Windows 10 is not about selling Windows licenses or PCs, but something far bigger and broader//
~!~ The problem with that ambition is that there are already operating systems for smartphones and tablets which are doing a sterling job, namely Android and iOS, and it*s not clear that there*s enough in Windows 10 to unseat either of them//
~!~ *Microsoft will face a long road ahead to gain Windows share in mobile,* said Forrester analyst Frank Gillett in research on the new OS// *While it will win a growing share of enterprise tablet purchases, the plans for Windows 10 don*t show enough potential to create a differentiated mobile experience that will draw developers and customers away from iOS and Android//*
(ukcanadaus)