Microsoft To Launch Free Antivirus Service Morro, Competitors Not Afraid

Microsoft executives anticipate the launch of the company's free antivirus service sometime "soon," but competitors aren't exactly shuddering in their shoes.

A Microsoft spokesperson said that engineers at the Redmond, Wash.-based software company were currently testing an early version of the product on its own employees and would officially release a beta version sometime "soon" for Windows customers. The company, however, failed to provide a specific launch date.

Specifically, Morro will offer basic antivirus, antispyware and antimalware functions, which analysts estimate will likely be on par with many of the low-end consumer and small-business antivirus products already offered by major security vendors such as Symantec and McAfee.

However, unlike other free offerings from security vendors such as AVG, Morro will be delivered as a hosted service. It's also touted as a "real-time antimalware" product, offering protection against Trojans, worms and botnets, as well as the usual array of spyware and viruses.

That real-time function will direct all Windows customers' Web traffic to a Microsoft data center, where it will be inspected and analyzed for security threats. The Morro application will subsequently block all of the malicious code it sees.

Morro is also anticipated to give a boost to Microsoft's launch of its Windows 7 operating system, and will more than likely be baked into the OS.

Despite the publicity surrounding the release of yet another free antivirus product, competitors don't seem to be too worried about Morro's impending market debut.

"With a number of free products already available, McAfee has experienced more than three years of global growth. On a level playing field, we are confident in our ability to compete with anyone who might enter the marketplace," a McAfee spokesperson said.

In actuality, Morro represents another attempt by Microsoft to make inroads into the antivirus space. Its consumer product, Live OneCare, flopped commercially, holding less than 2 percent of the security market share. Microsoft announced in November that OneCare would be phased out in anticipation of Morro's entrance into the marketplace, and is set to officially be discontinued June 30.

In light of Microsoft's track record, analysts and bloggers alike are waiting to see if Morro will turn out to be a free and hosted version of OneCare.

But whether Morro will be a big step up or nothing more than a gallant second try remains to be seen.