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Microsoft To Offer Free Anti-Virus Software

Posted by kdawson on from the another-industry-done-gone dept.

Dynamoo writes "The good news is that Microsoft have announced free anti-virus software for consumers, dubbed Morro, available late next year. The bad news is ... well, exactly the same. Although Microsoft's anti-malware products are pretty good, this move could drive many competitors out of business and create a dangerous security monoculture; major rivals will be lawyering up already. On the other hand, many malware infections could be prevented even by basic software. So is this going to be a good or bad thing overall?"

3 of 448 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Security vs backwards compatibility by ushering05401 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Sandboxes for legacy apps will remind consumers that they didn't want to upgrade in the first place.

  2. Makes sense by Chairboy · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Who do you trust? People who come in from all over the place with their "security experience" who build antivirus software that can protect against exploitation of all the security holes in Microsoft products, or the people who develop the Microsoft products that have those holes in them?

    I say stay with the people who know the holes best, and who knows a child better than its parent? Microsoft!

  3. Netscape Part Deux by HockeyPuck · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    In the beginning there was windows and Netscape.
    Then MSFT decided to include their own browser, and most users didn't think they needed _another_ browser, so they stuck with IE.
    Eventually, Netscape ceased to exist.
    IE stagnated for years and this led us to Firefox.
    Most users still use IE (70%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Usage_share_of_web_browsers.png

    Will McAfee go down the same roads at Netscape? Will the average user go out and buy McAfee when Microsoft's might just be "good enough"?