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The Next Internet Millionaire!

Is Microsoft OneCare the
long awaited magic pill?

Microsoft plans to release a new security product to the public this June called OneCare. The program claims to provide you with Antivirus, firewall, anti-spyware, and PC maintenance tools all for a mere $50 annual subscription. Despite consumer friendly gestures such as allowing the program to be installed on three PCs at the same time, and shipping the product with a 90-day trial subscription on new PC's, there is some doubt as to whether Microsoft's model will take hold in the security industry.

How OneCare Pricing Stacks Up
Microsoft released pricing information that compared its OneCare product against Symantec's popular Norton and McAfee security products. Since OneCare comes with a three-computer license, Microsoft compared its $50 product against pre-rebate pricing for the three license versions of Norton System Works ($119.99) and McAfee Security Suite ($139.99).

Obviously, this makes $50 look like a real value. However, many users only buy single computer licenses when they purchase security products, which can cost anywhere from $30 to $60 before rebates. So in actual practice, $50 a year is in line with what you currently pay for your security coverage on a single PC.

What Does OneCare Do?
The main thrust of the application is to introduce Microsoft as an Antivirus, Anti-Spyware, and Firewall provider. The Redmond, WA company stuck a few toes in the water when they released MS Anti-Spyware, a free spyware removal utility, and their Windows Firewall that arrived as part of XP Service Pack 2. OneCare may in fact be the culmination of those experiences into a unified product.

In addition to security functions, OneCare will use Microsoft Update to ensure you have all of the latest patches and updates for your Microsoft software. The program will also back up your files for you if you have access to an external hard drive.

The lightest offering in the product comes in the form of its automated tune-up functionality. OneCare will clean unneeded files from your hard drive and defragment it automatically. Speaking for a company that specialized in maintaining PCs, there is a lot more to keeping a PC running smoothly than a disk cleanup and a defrag. But it is a start I suppose.

Should I Download the Beta?
For those who do not know what "beta" means I will offer the following explanation. A beta version of a program is a version that has passed all major testing and