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it just avoids the problem instead of fixes it; it just remedies the symptoms, not the disease.


This is an interesting point of discussion. Anti-spyware tools really do help people, but not nearly as much as fixing the root causes would. Still, even Windows had never occured and all the world surfed exclusively with Firefox on Linux, you'd still have people creating spyware ("just download and run this great tool"). The only real solution is to lock down user permissions to install software, which you can do with Windows XP, Linux, or whatever else. That has its own issues.

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MS is to be commended, if only slightly, for attempting to do something to solve the problem.


Anti-spyware and anti-virus tools are really just automated sysadms who clean up the garbage left in a system by spyware and such. I'd lump these tools into the "remote administration" camp. Clearly, this is the next big thing for ISPs -- remotely helping newbie users maintain their machines (and charging monthly service fees for the privilege).