7 ms·
Why would they do this? It seemed obvious to me than in 5-10 years Antivirus software would be obsolete and unnecessary. I hear people every day recommending Wi
by cryptoz 16y ago
Why would they do this? It seemed obvious to me than in 5-10 years Antivirus software would be obsolete and unnecessary. I hear people every day recommending Windows 7 users get Microsoft Security Essentials and nothing else. And personally I run Ubuntu, so I haven't thought about antivirus software in years...
This seems like a very odd decision to me. Intel, a world leader in processor design, does not need to get into such a sleazy business as antivirus software.
Why not spend that $7.7 billion helping the world write better code?
- tzs 16y agoI work at a small antivirus company. I'd be interested in knowing how helping people whose computers are infected get them uninfected is a "sleazy business".
- hga 16y agoLast week I spent two solid days rebuilding from scratch my mom's PC from it's OEM Windows XP Home installation after some hostage type malware managed to defeat it's not quite state of the art defenses (e.g. AVG). You aren't doing anything sleazy at all assuming your stuff is really good (that includes your not working for AVG :-).
- panacea 16y agoYou're probably encountering one of those hard to shake off guilt-by-association theories, and working in the field, I'd be surprised if you are genuinely unaware of it. To most people, computer security is a mystery box inhabited by criminals who try and break in, and Mafia-like organizations who offer protection for a fee.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- javery 16y agoMy guess is that they will be able to use their existing OEM relationships to push for McAfee to be installed by default (and paid for, not just a trial) on more and more computers. McAfee also seems to be moving into different areas of computer security lately (PCI scans, etc), so it's not just anti-virus. I am not sure what % of their business this is though.
- Tichy 16y agoI thought unwanted default installs are the only way McAfee ends up on computers anyway.
- buro9 16y agoIf that's what it's called when network admins put on their default build images, then yes.
- GFischer 16y agoAnd corporate sales (writing this from a corporate PC with McAfee installed). At least it's not obnoxious.
- easyfrag 16y agobut it does bring a machine to its knees compared to the Microsoft Security Essentials product
- dododo 16y agoMcAfee do more than just desktop antivirus: for example, they have mobile, virtualisation and network security products. see products by category here: http://www.mcafee.com/uk/enterprise/index.html http://www.mcafee.com/uk/enterprise/index.html Intel has a large interest in mobile, virtualisation and network arenas; this isn't really as surprising as you make out.
- jakevoytko 16y agoMcAfee also has strong UI programming expertise that Intel sorely needed. Intel's IPP and MKL libraries are absolutely great, but VTune looks like it is fresh out of 2002. They get access to several stable revenue streams (like antivirus), and can cherry-pick talent to work on whatever projects they want. There aren't many downsides for Intel.
- BrandonM 16y agoWe're talking about $7.7 billion. I'm not sure it's quite as rosy a picture as you paint. I'm not that familiar with McAfee's annual profits, but even if they make $500 million a year, we can value the talent they cherry-pick at an absurdly high value of $1 billion, and it would still take Intel well over 10 years to recoup the investment, assuming stable revenue streams.
- reitzensteinm 16y ago$173 million in 2009, up from $172 in 2008 and $166 in 2007. It seems odd to make an assumption when the real answer is seconds away!
- BrandonM 16y agoThanks, I was about to head into a meeting and didn't have time to do the research. Assuming $175 million in profits per year, that means 44 years to breakeven, ignoring the talent acquisition angle. How much are 20 (or even 50) good programmers worth?
- 16y ago
- mcknz 16y agoIntel decided to do a public good, and plans to remove all McAfee antivirus software from the planet.
- shadowfox 16y agoIs McAfee really that bad?
- loupgarou21 16y agoAfter buying Secure Computing and then discontinuing the SnapGear I know I'm not terribly happy with them.
- ajju 16y agoSnap Gear was awesome. Used an SG565 for some research we were doing. Best wireless router/UTM I have ever owned. Disclosure: Used to work for Secure Computing, but not the snapgear division.
- mcknz 16y agoIn April they issued an update that accidentally targeted legitimate Windows system files, causing the updated boxes to bluescreen. Astounding enterprise-level incompetence.
- Marticus 16y agoWell what worries me is mostly "what's going to happen to my job now?" I'm not some higher-up so... outlook isn't great. I've seen enough mergers to know how that usually goes. So! I'm officially bad luck with businesses (was around just as CompUSA got liquidated, now McAfee acquisition), anyone wanna hire an MIS major with a burning desire to learn stuff solely for the sake of learning? But in all seriousness, I've been speculating over the reasoning behind Intel doing this, and haven't come to many conclusions. As some others here have stated, McAfee actually has quite comprehensive network security (I've obviously seen the network layouts / architectures), etc, and maybe Intel just wants to try and market that? I have yet to come up with a good reason - they are pretty disparate companies from what I can tell. There are "some" common grounds, but not many.
- instcode 16y agoIs McAfee really worthier than Sun? If IBM took a deal with Sun at that high, the Sun would have moved around the earth and Oracle doesn't stand a chance to slur the OS community!
- protomyth 16y agoGoogle != OS community
- xpaulbettsx 16y agoI'm definitely biased as a MS employee, but I can't underscore enough MSE as an Antivirus solution - it's the least annoying AV on the market and has the least perf impact on your system. Literally, you install it and it only bothers you when it absolutely has to.
- OmarIsmail 16y ago100% agreed. I don't work for MS but I honestly didn't run av software at all until MSE. It's the Google Chrome of AV software.
- sahaj 16y agocan you convince my workplace to dump Symantec and start using MSE?
- wazoox 16y agoProbably not; sane people dropped Symantec around the time when norton 2000 came out.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- shajith 16y agoMaybe McAfee has a patent portfolio that Intel fancies some use for?