[kbenson]

I'm one of those people. I would be really interested in seeing what percentage of exploits, malware and spyware is caught by each feature of the common AV suite. I suspect that Defender is at the sweet spot.

Additionally, I see the entire AV market as a leech that was only able to grow as it had because Microsoft was able to shirk its responsibilities with respect to security for so long. Now that Microsoft are trying to handle the problem the AV companies are crying foul because they think they deserve the right to exist, which means Microsoft shouldn't do too much to help their own customers.

AV companies are the car dealerships of the digital realm. Superficial middlemen ensconced in a bygone era leeching money from the unwary. We should be careful, lest we legally formalize that relationship as we have with the dealerships.