Could we all stop fiddling with the MBR please?

So Vista came along, with some decent kernel security, and protected access to the HDD.

Then every AV vendor whined and whined and whined their product doesn't work anymore, as the hooks to hardware are now blocked - there's a bloody good reason for that, and it's called security! Does Symantec run on Linux, hmmm?

So the kernel gets re-written to allow poor strugling AV vendors to access hardware, and blammo! we're back to square one with MBR virii.

Not just AV people, but the dubious dodgy software "protection" systems (Macromedia, I'm looking at YOU) that also require hardware access to MBR to do their dirty tricks.

Incidentally, my MB (Gigabyte) still has MBR blocking, and doesn't AutoCAD kick up a stink when it's enabled! I need to give Autodesk's PERFECT BUG-FREE CODE (yeah, right) access to my MBR just to run the program, not just install it! Oh, and of course the software demands Run As... ADMIN! So it can do bloody anything! Nice.

AV and software "protection" - "Nice PC you got here buddy, lotta data on it... be a SHAME if it caught a VIRUS huh?"

Seriously, every time I hear [generic AV vendor name] I think "fire insurance from the Mafia"; "ooh, looky looky a new threat, and OUR software blocks it!" See? There's NO BLOODY DIFFERENCE AT ALL!