Windows freebie to challenge anti-virus industry
By John Lister
Microsoft is launching a free anti-virus service for Windows users. If it takes off, it could be a serious threat to commercial security products.
The system, codenamed Morro, will launch in the second half of 2009. To make way, Microsoft will drop its existing subscription service OneCare on June 30. The firm says the service will provide “comprehensive protection from malware including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans.”
It also says the system will be a relatively small sized download and be as undemanding as possible on system resources. You’d be forgiven for believing that only when you see it, but it certainly makes sense for a product clearly aimed at the widest audience possible.
It’s not yet clear how the removal of OneCare will affect Microsoft’s plans for a subscription service allowing users to automatically get new releases of Office components during the subscription period. OneCare was to be included in that package and had presumably been factored into the pricing strategy.
It’ll be interesting to see how Morro will tackle the thorny issue of false positives – legitimate files mistakenly labeled as viruses. That subject has been in the news recently thanks to some AVG users accidentally deleting a key Windows component.
Microsoft in particular would seem to have good reason to take extra steps to avoid such errors. Of course, moving to a free model does release some of this pressure (along with the need to avoid missing genuine viruses) – customers have much less comeback when they haven’t paid for a product.
The big question is how this will affect commercial security products. In theory, many ‘casual’ computer users would seem likely to use Microsoft’s free product rather than pay for a rival service. Then again, there are plenty of commercial firewall products which sell well despite Windows’ built-in firewall.
To really have a chance to deal a killer blow, Morro would have to come pre-installed as part of Windows itself, which would leave many users not even feeling the need to consider the merits of free vs paid downloads. However, doing so would surely lead to legal challenged from commercial firms arguing that such ‘bundling’ unfairly hurts their market chances.
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