Why Bill Gates is great

Eh? What's that? Someone actually praising the great Satan himself? Surely not, must be some sort of typo. But no - I actually believe Microsoft are finally getting their grip around the throat of spyware and browser hijackers. Except...

You'd think they created all the infections themselves, such has been the reaction to Microsoft since they decided to involve themselves in malware removal. Yes, their Antispyware tool has essentially come about as a direct response to the infestations caused by the vulnerabilities inherent in their browser. But let's be honest, when ActiveX (for example) was made one of the main features of IE functionality so many years ago, how could they have predicted it would be one of the most popular methods of spyware infection? How could they have predicted spyware at all?

If they had end-users paying for a tool to remove infections caused by their browser's goof-ups, then they'd be rightly slated. But they just announced that Microsoft Antispyware is going to be free.

Free!

How cool is that? A tool that was absolutely fantastic when it was GIANT, and at the time you had to pay for the privilege, will now cost you absolutely nothing at all and will incorporate many of the features that many of the more reliable apps have used for years into the bargain. If someone had told me a while back that you'd get such a package for free, I'd have laughed at them. Yet now it's become a reality and all people can do is moan about it - mainly because, coupled with the announcement of the impending IE7, a lot of eyes are now on Microsoft's history of failiure with regards browser hijacking. Indeed, many forums are awash with posts seemingly gobsmacked that the "corporate superdemons" could lose their marbles and offer us mere mortals something for nothing.

But is that entirely fair?

I'll happily slate Microsoft on many issues (and have done!), but I simply won't accept the strange idea that they somehow "don't care" about security. With many more standalone apps on the way and an AV package that looks like being a real contender, Microsoft are taking the bull by the horns and should be applauded for it at long last, not pilloried.

I really don't understand why Bill Gates is demonised so much simply for being the right man, right place, right time guy. So Microsoft make money out of their products - and? Every business does this and they can't help it if, at a particular moment in time, they had exactly what everyone needed on their desktop - it had to be someone, why not them? The fact remains that, for all their faults, Microsoft's products are still leaps and bounds ahead of others in some respects and need to do some catching up in others - just like every other OS vendor out there.

The whole fake-shock "Gates is doing something for free!" thing doesn't really come into it - he regularly donates vast amounts of cash every year (millions and millions of dollars) to charities, funds, appeals etc, so it's not like he doesn't give anything back.

How many large multinationals give absolutely nothing back to anyone? Plenty.

Microsoft can't really win - if they'd charged for the Antispyware tool, they'd have been panned, so they do the decent thing and people line the block to take a swing at them anyway.

Nobody has all the answers, but someone should be applauded for attempting to come up with solutions.