Dear friends and developers of Spybot, I have always been fond of your utility and as a PC Reclamation and Networking Technician, and you will be missed. I would like to say that up until your sudden shift in business strategy, I toted your name and encouraged donations from every personal client I met, and even some people when I worked for IBM and DELL as a Field Service Technician as I preformed virus removals and registry restructuring.
It seems that your spirit of free marketing and non-profit antivirus solutions for the masses, has died. A short burst of cash from your current stature, will eventually lead to your inevitable downfall and destruction. Any technician worth his salt understands that there are a plethora of other free anti-virus solutions, even if its doing things the old-fashioned way.. A companies network and security structure, even down to a small business is not made up of executives willing to spend money. They will find one or several computer technicians to find a solution for them, and they (we) will pursue the most affordable option even if its not the "best", especially in this economy.
Your companies removal of its primary antivirus function in the free edition will lose you favor in the eyes of technicians, not because you don't have a wonderful product that has a history of efficiency and a long standing record of success (which I can vouch for), but because there are so many OTHER free (working) solutions, that your product falls short of when finances come into play. I started my personal business as a street technician, and preformed a full hardware diagnostic and virus removal for $20 to put food on my plate. Now, I'm not alone. The costs of removals and repairs in commercial are comparable to buying a BRAND NEW PC. The field of professional technicians who are capable of password removals, data recovery, solder rework and yes, even virus removal has all but dried up in this desert of an economy. My point is this: If I offered a virus removal for $40 (a little under what most local tech shops offer, which is 60-80 due to their labor and building slot costs) and I have to pay $50 for ONE copy of Spybot with antivirus, not only am I losing money? I am wasting time. My time. My clients time. And that is not a real figure. The reality is, A company, tech shop, refurbishing warehouse or home user will find the free solutions instead of purchasing ANY product, and that is the bottom-line.
Farewell old friend, and enjoy the coinage while it lasts. As of today I am permanently removing you from my toolkit.