I saw on the OneCare blog that a new beta is out this can be signed up for at  Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Beta.  I like OneCare - while it has it cranky moments (like I have to manually remove the old product to install the beta) it works better than some others I could mention without killing my machine or network.  It is the product that I have bought for my home to protect it.  According to the sign up site, this is what OneCare does.

Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Beta - All-in-one security and performance for all your PCs

Windows Live OneCare is an automatically self-updating PC care service that's on whenever your PC is on, helping provide persistent protection against viruses, hackers, and other threats. It also performs regular tune-ups to help keep your PC running at top speed, and helps you back up important documents.

• Runs quietly in the background, providing anti-virus, anti-spyware, online identity and scam protection (anti-phishing) and firewall protection
• Updates itself to help you keep ahead of the latest threats
• Runs regular PC tune-ups, even checking for ways to shorten PC boot-up time
• Provides one-click solutions to most problems
• Makes backups a breeze
• Lets you see the status of all your computer systems at a glance

As for improvements on the Blog they say:

Here’s a quick overview of the new features we’ve added to OneCare version 2.0 to help keep users’ PCs and networks safe, reliable and performing well:

• Multi-PC and home network management. Helps ease management of multiple-PC environments by providing a single navigation bar for monitoring the security and maintenance of networked computers. Also enables one-click actions to resolve issues among computers within a home PC network.
• Printer sharing support. Makes it easy to connect printers to local networks so all users in the vicinity can use the same printer.
• Start-time optimizer.  Speeds PC boot time by removing rarely used applications from start-up menu.  This helps to address one of the noticeable areas of frustration for PC users as time goes on.
• Proactive fixes and recommendations.  OneCare constantly monitors the specific configuration of the user’s system and makes proactive fixes and recommendations to improve the computing experience.
• Monthly reports.  Provides a summary in the Windows Live OneCare dialogue box of key activities and recommended actions for all PCs in a local network.
• Centralized backup. Enables users to centrally configure and monitor backups for all PCs covered under the same OneCare subscription, with the data from all PCs backed up to a central location.
• Online photo backup. Keeps precious photos safe from theft or accidental loss by backing them up to a secure, offsite location in Windows Live Folders (available at an extra cost once v2.0 is out of beta).

On behalf of the entire OneCare team, I’d like to offer a special thanks to the thousands of users who have sent us their thoughts and feedback on Windows Live OneCare.  Our goal with Windows Live OneCare is to make users life easier, at least the PC and home network management part of it.  Take a look at version Windows Live OneCare beta (2.0) and let us know what you think.

ttfn

David