I don't mean for this to be a "gripe" blog. Not that gripe blogs aren't entertaining--I mean, I kind of like Mr. Angry, the Daily WTF, and others. That said, sometimes you just have to share in the hopes that you aren't alone in this whole frustration thing.
I named names in a previous post about Arrogant Software, so I guess this is mostly adding to the list. Today's highlight is SpySweeper from WebRoot. Now, like all the software on my Arrogant list, I found SpySweeper useful. I even bought two subscriptions so that both our computers would be covered. Unfortunately, the whole subscription thing means that eventually you have to re-up.
On the plus side, SpySweeper notified me immediately when my subscription ran out. Being the wrong time of the month (no, not that wrong time of the month), I deferred for a bit figuring I'd just have to make do with old definitions for a little while. That's when the software went all arrogant on me. SpySweeper began asking me every single day if I wanted to renew my subscription. Now, software subscriptions are a little squirrelly to begin with, but this was beyond my level of tolerance. I couldn't select "Don't ask again for xx" and I couldn't select "Leave me alone forever already", no. That'd make too much sense.
The end result is that SpySweeper got the axe. The boot. The ole heave ho. I don't have to put up with that crap, so I went and found an alternative. Since Microsoft is entering that space, I thought I'd give them a look-see. Not to be too much of a shill or anything, but the combination of a 90-day free trial and the eventual subscription covering 3 PCs has me more than a little intrigued. We'll see if it's as cool as MS thinks it is--or at least, cool enough that it's an adequate replacement for SpySweeper.