M$ OneCare doesn't seem to play nicely with Thunderbird

[homecomputeraid]

I've been Beta Testing Microsoft OneCare for some time now. Here's what I've found:

Positives:

1. It's nice to have Antivirus, Firewall, and M$ Updates centralized, and taking care of themselves. The program includes M$ Office Updates when it checks for them.

2. It's a relatively easy to use interface if you don't want to change anything.

Negatives:

1. There's no visible indication that e-mail's being scanned. I believe it is, but I like the AVG Icon that indicates that it's scanning e-mail as it comes in. Also, it seems fine with Outlook Express, but strangely enough makes Thunderbird incredibly slow! It isn't just during e-mail download either. The MpEng.exe process takes up a lot of processor time, slowing any action in Thunderbird down.

2. The firewall still tries to anticipate what programs should be allowed out instead of prompting the user every single time. That's one of the things I don't like about the Windows XP SP2 Firewall. It's also a bit more cumbersome than Sygate or ZoneAlarm if you want to change anything, like adding an application, or allowing certain traffic to pass.

Microsoft should take features people look for in full fledged Antivirus and Firewall programs, like an easy interface for making changes, and incorporate those into their program. Windows and Office Updates should not need a separate application, they should simply be built into Windows!

[scuzzman]

Windows and Office Updates should not need a separate application, they should simply be built into Windows!

And definitely NOT the web browser...

[andsome]

I see a potential problem with one program trying to be all things to all men/women. I am more than happy with Nod 32 and Sygate, and have several anti Spyware programs which I use in turn for scans. What one misses, one of the others will find. To me it seems too much like having all your eggs in one basket.

[scuzzman]

Updates to any particular program, especially an operating system, should be built into said program.

[homecomputeraid]

I see a potential problem with one program trying to be all things to all men/women.

I agree with you Andsome, but I think many home users may not keep all those disparate programs up to date. It can be a pain to run down your checklist of updates every day or week!

Hopefully we impress upon our members how important it is to keep their software up to date. :biggrin:

It would be nirvana to have one program to update that actually does everything well.