Microsoft to launch free anti-virus app soon
Word on the street has it that Microsoft is preparing to launch a free anti-virus application for Windows. That’s not breaking news – we first reported the project back in November 2008, but Reuters is now reporting that a beta version of the software should be available for download “soon.”
Microsoft has reportedly been testing the product internally, and expects it to compete with similar utilities from Symantec, McAfee, AVG, Avast, and other security companies. The Microsoft anti-virus app is code-named Morro (after a beach in Brazil), but it will probably have a different name by the time it’s released.
The program isn’t expected to be competitive with high priced security software, but it should offer the basic anti-virus functionality you would expect from the entry level anti-virus apps from companies that typically charge an annual subscription fee for updates.
You could make the case that Microsoft is aiming to take business away from those companies. But you could also make the case that Microsoft should have been offering better virus scanning and removal tools all along in order to provide better security for Windows.
