Well it’s been a bit less than a week since we made the beta available to a public audience, and we are very pleased with the level of response. If posts to this blog are any indication of demand, you can imagine how many people are signing up. Of course, with many more customers using Windows OneCare Live (WOCL), there are many more questions and comments – which we LOVE! So, please keep the feedback rolling, and see below for answers to some common questions and feature requests.

Overall response

I think the most frequent comment – though this isn’t based on scientific measurement – was people expressing satisfaction with the product. That’s been wonderful to see, though almost all of the positive comments were followed by a “but” or “however,” which just means that you are engaged and interested users, so thanks again. Now, on to more interesting topics…

Feature requests

There were many good ideas and suggestions – virtually all of which we have captured. The most common ones were:

• Windows OneCare Live should include anti-spyware:  We agree!  We have publicly stated that we plan to include anti-spyware in the first commercial release later this year  
• Backup – many requests here:
• To other hard disks – this is one we don’t have available yet, but we will work to add in the future
• Specify locations for backup – again, not a feature we have currently available, but something we hope to add in the future as we enhance the overall options and advanced functionality of the backup experience. For our first commercial release, the focus is primarily on solving the biggest problem out there, which is that probably more than 75% or so of normal users don’t back up regularly. If we can help at least 75% of Windows OneCare Live users back up regularly, we think that’s a great start.  But we recognize there's more to do... 
• Specify files to back up – this is something that is currently available from within the backup experience. I will do a full blog post in the coming weeks highlighting backup, and all the potential options. It is a very powerful feature, and I hope beta users are taking advantage of it and keeping your files, pictures and documents more safe and secure.
• Back up to network drives – not currently available, but we're taking the input -- it's something we will look at for the future 
• Registry cleaning – As a result of the heightened interest on this blog, we are re-evaluating the timing and scope of implementing this feature. One of the biggest challenges of doing registry cleaning is simply doing it well. While there are many options out there, actually cleaning out the “right” registry entries, while not damaging anything else on the system is quite difficult. Because we like big challenges, it is certainly something we are looking at, but we want to make sure it is something that provides real value if we are going to do it.
• More advanced controls and settings – this was a general theme expressed by some on the blog, and it makes sense. As I mentioned in relation to backup functionality, our goal in this first version was to identify and solve the vast majority of user needs and problems. We recognize that we won’t have every possible feature immediately, but we are excited to be delivering Windows OneCare Live as a service, which allows us to continue adding in functionality over time.
• Running more than one anti-virus – the general industry consensus is to only run one anti-virus on a single machine at a time. Although some experts will have more than one installed, it does require fine-tuning and ongoing management, so for most users, we (and most in the security industry) recommend you uninstall any existing anti-virus applications before adding a new one, such as Windows OneCare Live.
• Help, support, and submitting issues – there has been a reasonable amount of confusion on this topic, so I will give a brief explanation here, and do a more complete posting on the topic over the coming weeks.
• Technical support - from our perspective, probably the most important element of this discussion is how to get a technical issue resolved, since we want you to be happy with your WOCL experience. If you are having a problem, the best thing to do is either click on the help link within the main user interface (right-click on the “1” icon in your system tray and click on “open Windows OneCare.” Then select “Get help with Windows OneCare.”) Alternatively, you can go to: http://www.windowsonecare.com/support/Default.aspx and either search the help or click on the “contact support” link. We certainly hope you don’t have any problems with the product, but if you do, we hope your support experience is quick and (relatively) painless. Over the past few weeks we’ve been able to resolve technical issues more quickly than anticipated, so hopefully that trend continues.
• Submitting an issue – if you are willing and able, we would greatly appreciate you using the link here: http://www.windowsonecare.com/Feedback.aspx. These issues are cataloged and entered into our internal tracking system. While we will do our best to capture comments on the blog, the feedback tool is the most formal location to log issues.
• Pontificating, making suggestions, giving kudos – for all these you can post comments on the blog, but remember, this is not the place where you should expect someone to help you resolve a technical issue specific to you.  I will attempt to answer general questions on the blog, but it won’t be possible for me to make sure each issue is resolved fully, so please follow the links above when appropriate.
• Tune-up scheduling and experience – a number of folks asked for more granular controls and advance notification for tune-up. These are great comments and we will almost certainly add more advanced options and further controls in the future.  Once you get into a more regular schedule of tune-ups, this functionality may be less critical, but we certainly understand the request and hope to add in future versions.
• Regional availability – as we have announced, the current version of Windows OneCare Live is available in English US only. While we certainly will include additional languages and country support in the future, our current focus is on nailing the features and functionality; once we establish that platform, the goal is to make Windows OneCare Live available to as many users, as quickly as possible.

Once again, we appreciate all the comments and look forward to an ongoing dialogue.

Kind regards,

Yoav