Symantec, McAfee and
Norton. What do all three of those have in common? A little something
with Microsoft, now. For years upon years, the first three companies
have been ruling the PC security roost, all while Microsoft scrambles
to patch its own operating systems when new exploits are discovered and
reported. At long last, the OS maker has decided to give itself some of
the medicine rather than taking it from the spoons of other vendors.
A spokesperson for the company recently stated that it would soon
reveal an anti-virus service to compete with the solutions already
dominating the market; the difference, however, is that Microsoft's
alternative will be completely free of charge. It's expected to start
testing the software internally over the next few months, and
afterwards it will publish a public beta version. The software is
codenamed Morro, and it definitely has analysts curious. Daniel
Ives, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, noted that
Microsoft
entering the market "is a long-term competitive threat" to the other
guys. After all, with a name like Microsoft, its bound to gain
traction. And with a price tag of $0.00, it's bound to beat the others
on cost.
Microsoft has stated that Morro will offer "basic" virus-fighting
features, but we've yet to learn exactly what will be offered. Still,
it's anticipated that Morro will launch in earnest by the end of 2009,
so we should find out soon enough.