Microsoft offering free security program in 2009

Microsoft is going to kill off its Windows Live OneCare consumer security suite and replace it in the second half of next year with a new, free product that currently bears the code-name of Morro.

The company already offers a free anti-spyware program called Windows Defender, which is available via download to Windows XP users, and is included in Windows Vista. There's also a basic firewall built into both versions of Windows. But it currently doesn't give away an anti virus program.

From the company's news release:

To address the growing need for a PC security solution tailored to the demands of emerging markets, smaller PC form factors and rapid increases in the incidence of malware, Microsoft Corp. plans to offer a new consumer security offering focused on core anti-malware protection.

Code-named "Morro," this streamlined solution will be available in the second half of 2009 and will provide comprehensive protection from malware including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans. This new solution, to be offered at no charge to consumers, will be architected for a smaller footprint that will use fewer computing resources, making it ideal for low-bandwidth scenarios or less powerful PCs. As part of Microsoft's move to focus on this simplified offering, the company also announced today that it will discontinue retail sales of its Windows Live OneCare subscription service effective June 30, 2009.

The emphasis appears to be on "emerging markets" -- i.e., countries that are high-growth areas for personal computing, such as China -- but Microsoft is still killing off a security suite that's sold in developed countries, including the United States.

At first glance, this would be the kind of news that would upset executives at other consumer security software companies, and raise specters of what Microsoft did to Netscape in the 1990s by bundling Internet Explorer within Windows.

But note that Morro is described as "streamlined", which likely means it is stripped down. Given the markets it is targeting, this is probably a case of Microsoft opting out of a very competitive niche that it has not dominated. It's leaving the mainstream security software business to Symantec, McAfee, et al, which should make those guys very, very happy.