Microsoft has been in hot water before over its practice of bundling software with Windows to the detriment of other software companies By the time the browser wars were done in the courts Internet Explorer had crushed the competition although that situation is changed – to the degree where a meme exists about Edge being the browser most used for downloading Chrome. However, in a recent blog post, Eugene Kaspersky has launched proceedings with both the European Commission and German Federal Cartel Office.
Kasperksy’s blog post outlines how Microsoft uses their position to not only insert their software ahead of Kaspersky and other vendors but also how they use UAC to discourage the installation of competing applications.
One of the issues Kaspersky notes is the nature of the warnings Microsoft issues only apply to some applications – namely those that Microsoft competes with.
The blog post is worth reading and it will be interesting to see what comes from this and whether Kaspersky can encourage other end-point security companies to join his cause.
On my Windows computers, I use Defender because it’s already there and I don’t need to do anything extra. Which I guess proves Kaspersky’s point. What about you? Are you using Defender? What’s your preferred end-point security software?
Comments
5 responses to “Kaspersky Expands Legal Battle With Microsoft Over Anticompetitive Behaviour”
I’ve never found a need to pay for antivirus programs as a consumer. Surely his profit should be coming from corporates and SMBs?
It also will be a more challenging case as Microsoft has a good argument for ensuring computers are protected out of the box.
Since windows 10 I’ve used the built in AV. I don’t think it’s just because it’s bundled though. I believe Microsoft have done a genuinely good job of providing a streamlined and from what I read effective solution. I hated dealing with the third party AV’s and all the useless bloatware they tack on. So many popups about nonsense (yes I plugged in a new drive I know… I plugged it in) and meaningless dashboards. Not to mention the regular bugs and resource drain.
I use Defender because it works. I had AVG before Win10 and I would have to yell at my computer, “yes that Microsoft program I am running for the hundredth time today is legit”. Along with all the other programs running, downloading, even slowing down every site while it ‘scanned’.
It set a bad precedence with the browser case, every single person who has Windows is free to use any browser. After installing my very first Opera ~11 years ago, Windows has never bugged me about it.
The reason the built in anti-virus are usually better is because they know the system, the programs, the signatures, they are built not to bog down your system.
Anti-competition between anti-virus? I don’t think so.
I’ve used other Anti-viruses like Avast and Norton, and every time: Windows Defender bobs down and disables itself… Until I uninstall them of course.
Not in that single time have I been asked to re-use Defender in that time.
However, in the case of other applications – That’s a different story.
For example: I keep getting nagged to use Edge while using Chrome and Internet Explorer, or to use OneDrive in place of Google Drive and Apple Cloud (which incidentally, I also use OneDrive).
Agreed with the other posters; MSE on Windows 7 and Defender on 10 has sufficed for my personal needs.
On Unix-like OS’, I’ve depended on ClamAV.
If you’re careful in what you do online, then you’ll be fine.