PC optimizers are not a new concept, and they have been around for quite a while. Nowadays, many consider them unnecessary, but having an official program made by Microsoft that is capable of (allegedly) speeding up your PC may sound quite appealing.

However, Microsoft’s PC Manager has already raised quite a few eyebrows when customers caught it recommending some questionable optimizing techniques, injecting affiliate links, and shamelessly claiming your PC needs repair if Bing is not set as the default search engine. Yikes.

  • mynachmadarch@kbin.social
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    5 months ago

    Although I agree in general, the antivirus complaint isn’t really fair. Windows was by and large the largest install base, especially in the corporate sector. It only makes sense it became the most targeted. Scam apps and that’s do exist on Android and Linux, they’re just mitigated other ways. For now.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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      5 months ago

      I see it more as a distribution problem. It’s unrealistic to expect users to download software and verify that the sources are trustworthy. Having some kind of store with developer accountability goes a long way to preventing malware. That, and sandboxing.

      It’s always possible to write malware for any platform. It’s not entirely a fair comparison.

      • shastaxc@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Windows has a store. Most people just choose not to use it.

        • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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          5 months ago

          Microsoft tries to offer one, but there’s not a lot of incentive for developers to use it.