To help consumers overcome these challenges, the [url=http://www.idc.com]IDC research group[/url] believes a new generation of tech support services is rising up that leverages the Internet to provide assistance remotely and directly.

"Technology has become more deeply entwined in consumers' lives while consumer support options have remained limited and often unsatisfying," says Matt Healey, research manager, Software and Hardware Support Services at IDC. "However, we are quickly reaching the point where certain devices and applications are considered 'mission critical' in the home. This means more consumers will require, and be willing to pay for, a higher level of support to ensure smooth operations at home."

To better understand the technology problems that consumers are encountering, IDC analyzed more than 10,000 consumer support sessions captured by support service provider PlumChoice. Key findings from this data include the following:

° Personal computer software and operating system problems were the most common, representing 41 percent of the support sessions analyzed. (Apple already excels in this area; now is the time to capitalize.)

° Security problems, particularly issues associated with viruses, spyware, and malware, were the second most common session type representing 23 percent of the sessions. Despite the high number of security related sessions, 82 percent of consumers indicated that they had security software installed. This suggests that consumers are not regularly updating the software to meet new threats. (Again, there's no platform better than the Mac to deal with this).

Other categories where consumer support is regularly needed include personal computer performance issues, networking, personal computer hardware, and peripherals that connect to the personal computer or network.

There's never been a better time for Apple, and the Mac, to prosper than now.

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