There Will Be More Love and OneCare

Joe Wilcox Future versions of Windows Live OneCare will interact more closely with other Microsoft products, including Windows Home Server.

Microsoft also isn't looking to follow Symantec plans to change how users interact with Windows Vista security features, like UAC (User Account Control).

Colleague Peter Galli and I are just so caring. This evening, we both chased down separate, but relevant, perspectives on Windows Live OneCare. He aptly dealt with 64-bit support, which is missing in the new version of the product. Microsoft is releasing the new version, Windows Live OneCare 1.5, to coincide with next week's Windows Vista launch.

This evening, I caught up with Gina Narkunas, Windows Live OneCare lead product manager, in London. My clock put the time there at about 11:30 p.m. Narkunas said she was still on Seattle time, but I dunno. She gave up a few--emphasis on few--details about OneCare 2.0 and 2.5. Reporters like to poke questions at people that are overly tired or jet lagged. :)

What did she say? For starters, Microsoft isn't looking to use OneCare to change Windows Vista, which Symantec plans to do.

Laura Garcia, senior director of product manager for Symantec's consumer products division, believes that UAC prompts too often and confuses users.

"In most cases, users cannot make the security decisions they are asked to do," she said. Symantec plans to take over some UAC controls, to "automate a lot of these things for the user" and "generally make the decisions for the consumers."

Narkunas sees a different role for OneCare. "Instead of changing what the [Vista] platform has now, we want to innovate on things that aren't in the platform right now," she explained. Future versions of OneCare "will tap into all those open APIs the way partners do."

"Pushing the backup boundary," would be another area of Vista platform extension, Narkunas said. She said that new backup functionality would "coordinate with" Windows Home Server, which would suggest a new update or 2.0 release around the same time as HP's MediaSmart Server ships.

While Narkunas wouldn't go into specifics (if I only could have caught her an hour tireder), she said that future versions of OneCare would "coordinate with other products coming out of Microsoft."

Right now, OneCare doesn't integrate much with other Microsoft stuff, although some plans are known. Company executives have talked about a visual clue--what Microsoft calls a "gleam"--in Windows Live Messenger to indicate buddies that run OneCare. The supposed user benefit is assurance that files can be shared without risk of malware infection.

Narkunas also hinted that Microsoft would soon start treating OneCare more like a platform. The idea there would be to create opportunities for partners.

One area she wouldn't disclose: channels. Right now, OneCare distribution is through retail or online. Microsoft has yet to snag OEM preloads, which is where McAfee and Symantec have done a whole lot better. Limited distribution hurts. NPD puts OneCare market share between 2 to 3 percent of all security software.

Release of Windows Live OneCare 1.5 could open some distribution, nevertheless, as Microsoft expands from the United States to 17 countries. In the meantime, the OneCare team is turning its sextant to the sky and looking to the next destination.

"The North Star for us is the whole idea of your PC, our responsibility." Narkunas said.

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