Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is here. Microsoft's all-in-one security solution has scrapped the beta tag and the final version of the product is available as of November 14. There have already been indications that the Redmond company was getting ready to release Windows Live OneCare 2.0, and the official launch only came to confirm this scenario. The beta for OneCare 2.0 went live in mid July bringing to the table enhanced integration with both the 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista SKUs (but only with the 32-bit edition of Windows XP SP2), the x64 versions having been ignored until that point. With the final OneCare 2.0 Microsoft promised that Vista users will continue to
experience the benefits associated with the security product.
"Customers have told us they want an all-in-one solution for PC care that is simple and easy to use across all the PCs in their home," said Amy Barzdukas, senior director of Windows Live OneCare at Microsoft. "Windows Live OneCare helps address this need by providing a comprehensive set of security and performance tools while adding new features, including multi-PC management, printer sharing support and centralized backup options."
Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is designed to deliver both security and maintenance capabilities to up to three computers. The security solution is available for $49.95, covering a whole year's worth of subscription and licenses for three PCs. The move to version 2.0 is positioned as a major update of OneCare bringing to the table centralized Home Network Management, performance boosts and improvements to back-up and restore functionality. The bottom line is that Microsoft built Windows Live OneCare 2.0 with multi-machine environments in mind, be them in the household or a small business environment.
"A lot of these customers run PCs without basic anti-virus and anti-spyware protection, and even fewer perform performance-enhancing tasks such as disk defragmentation and regular system back-ups. Furthermore, the plethora of digital photos stored on PCs means that more and more people are trusting their systems to archive digital memories, but given the general consumer's lack of understanding of archival software, doing so becomes a risky proposition indeed. And, when you factor in the prevalence of wireless networks in use in homes and small-businesses, you quickly get the picture that there is a lot of data at risk out there and customers are ill-prepared to take the necessary precautions to ensure it," revealed Nick White, Microsoft Product Manager.
A 90-day free trial version of Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is available for download here.
Source - Softpedia
Official Site - http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm