I wonder if you have done a commentary on the following topic.
I buy Trend Micro’s Maximum Security every year bin December from a retail shop because I get it cheaper than the online renewal offers from Trend. In recent years, from September onwards I get a renewal offer popping up every time I put my laptop on, also on other PCs which use this software (4 device sub). I find this constant bombardment very annoying and have rang Trend Australia to have it stopped but within a few days of stopping Trend started again with another offer.
I don’t know how much persistence is required to stop this.
Trend is not the best. The easiest way to disable that nagware feature is to vote with your feet and use a free version or paid version of Bitdefender, Kaspersky, or Avast and see how their nagware goes. Switching every year is cost effective and not so difficult, if that is what it takes…
You might find some links in these threads useful, especially re purchasing.
Or PC & Tech Authority review antivirus software annually. They recommended the free version of Avira in their most recent review Best free antivirus 2017.
Bear in mind that the free software does have ads, but they are not too irksome. A small price to pay for getting something good for free.
PS: When installing a new antivirus, I always uninstall the old one straight AFTER installing and updating the new one as they can conflict with each other.
I also got fed up with Trend Micro’s renewal reminders and eventually bought it cheaper from a shop. Problem I have now is that it refuses to install on my new iPad Mini as its supposedly not available/supported in my ‘area’. Any one else had this problem please?
I’ve never had any issues with Trend as a long term user. Maybe there’s something in the settings I’ve disabled. I still get renewal reminders but they’re normally limited to one 3 months before and a few the week before.
Your best next step is to contact Trend Micro support directly. There are a few forums (2013, essentially eons ago as computerdom goes) claiming some AV products had region or language specific keys at that time.
Most other bought online security softwares are the same. It is cheaper to purchase a whole new version than renew the existing one. It doesn’t really make sense, but suspect if is another example of a lazy tax…where renewals are easier to do so therefore cost more.
The only downside to buying a new version is this may require uninstalling and reinstalling the software as the registry/licence key doesn’t work for renewals.
Unless you need controls for children or visit particularly high risk sites you generally should be fine on Apple’s operating systems. The way they design them prevents apps interacting with or modifying the OS and other apps. There is definitely still plenty of nasty malware out there for them but it’s much less common.
I’m not disagreeing it fits the definition of a lazy tax, but I’d put money on most security software being sold at an unviable price in stores.
Most people own their device for much longer than the year long subscriptions bought in store. It’s likely that they deliberately put them at the lowest possible price just to push people over the line in the hope they keep using it for the life of the device. I mean I got a year long subscription for free when I bought my PC. Compared to other software pricing I just can’t see them making any money on in store purchases once the store has taken a cut too.
Could be that for some retailers the software companies sell their software cheaply knowing that a large percentage will renew a subscription, paying more, than repurchasing a new version of the same software.
We use Norton and for an annual renewal key through the software and Norton for 5 devices is A$109.99. To buy an new 5 device version with new licence number, the price through a discount computer retailer is A$39.00 (difference of $70.99 and note not through a najor retailer link HN, JB Hifi or similar). The only pain is one has to uninstall and reinstall the new version on each device as the licence key with the new version won’t reactivate the year long subscription. It is worth uninstalling and reinstalling to save $70.99…which is a lazy tax in effect.
I have heard (not checked myself) that the same applies for other antivirus/internet security software.
It is possibly a it like one can buy a new printer cheaply, but then buying replacement inks can be an expensive exercise when compared to the original purchase price (it may be cheaper to buy a new printer - which I don’t condone as it creates unnecessary waste).
The reason I think it’s different here is comparing the pricing to other software. Microsoft Office will set you back $100/year for the most basic package and that’s rarely updated these days. So I’m not sure how $39 for 5 devices for Norton could possibly be viable given the constant work needed to keep it up to date. This makes me think, although it’s still a kind of lazy tax, that we’re not being ‘ripped off’ as such. It’s just a legitimate cost of running it.
