Microsoft's $99 hour PC support service

Answer Desk to provide desktop support

Microsoft's Answer Desk debuted Dec. 7, touted as a premium service to give you the most convenient, friendly, and easy way to get the most out of your PC (per a TechNet blog article by Blake Morrison Dec. 9 that was pulled shortly it was posted). However, http://www.answerdesk.com/ is live, including a complimentary consult to get you started. Service is oriented towards removing malware, helping with performance problems, or solving problems with Windows or Office.

Clicking on the "I accept the support agreement" that pops up within seconds of going to answerdesk.com triggered an email to my Windows Live account (I guess I was signed in?) telling me what I can do on www.answerdesk.com; specifically:

• Get online support for almost any technology need from one of our Answer Techs.
• Browse and choose from a variety of Answer Techs who have been rated and reviewed by our customers. We've made it easy to build a relationship with a trusted Answer Tech to whom you can return whenever you need.
• Let your friends and family know where they can get the best online tech support out there.

$99/hour isn't bad, not when you compare it with support rates for other companies. I just hope the support is better. I recently heard a horror story from a friend with very slow performing PC (with 8 GB of RAM) who contacted the hardware manufacturer's support desk. The vendor charged over $200 for "software support." After two days of conversations with numerous technicians, my friend was told that the computer was so badly infected that the only possible solution was to reinstall Windows and start over. It turned out the problem was an out-of-date BIOS! (at least Windows wasn't reinstalled ...)

I've talked to a lot of people that have less than complimentary things to say about calling a vendor for PC support. Microsoft's $99 rate sounds good, but only if the support is good, and then of course only if the problem is resolved in under an hour - which would make their support technicians much faster than those my friend dealt with last month.

I guess we'll find out.

• Anti-malware
• Windows
• Microsoft
• Answer Desk
• desktop support
• Microsoft