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FYI, I tried this on a machine at my home and the software did not
entirely impress me.

-- During installation the Setup offered checkboxes to choose
whether I wanted to install the A/V and/or the firewall.  It
wouldn't let me un-check the firewall.

-- The UI for the antivirus reminds me of the old EZ CD Creator;
primitive, and you're not sure where to click to enable a scan.

-- They renamed the firewall under their EZ brand.  My wife was
trying to do some online banking when a message popped on the
screen saying that ZoneAlarm had been shut down and she'd have
to go through a set of steps.  She tried to do this but saw
nothing under Start / Programs named ZoneAlarm.  So she called
me (anyone who heard my cell phone ring at the MSU Webmasters
meeting witnessed it) and, unable to walk her through the
steps without seeing the screen, I just had her uninstall
the firewall.

So I agree that it removes the excuse that you can't afford
antivirus and firewall software, but my personal interpretation
is that Microsoft desperately needed a way to support customers
in the Blaster era, and CA, not well known as an antivirus vendor,
found a convenient way to grab market share with a product that
perhaps isn't as mature as Norton or McAfee.

Sometimes free products (and this isn't free, it's just free if
you license within the next few months; they'll charge if you
want to re-up a year later) distort a marketplace.  I worry
that Qualcomm may not be getting enough revenue to support and
improve Eudora well because Outlook Express is out there for free.

If a student asked me whether to get the free CA product or
pony over $10 under the deal McAfee has with MSU, I think my
personal advice based on my experience would be to spend the $10.

/rich


>A repost of the software I talked about a little in today's NAG meeting. The
> original post is below.
>
>After reviewing the wording it appears to just be for home use. Regardless it's
> a nice easy way to get a free copy of "zonealarm" for your home provided you
> use Windows.