Microsoft plans to abandon OneCare and offer free anti-virus software next year

Microsoft is dropping its OneCare subscription service and plans to offer a leaner, meaner and free alternative, code-named Morro

Microsoft has announced plans to change its strategy on anti-virus software, in an attempt to upgrade PC security, particularly outside the developed countries. It's a tacit admission that its OneCare strategy hasn't worked: it hasn't gained significant market share, and it hasn't impacted the malware industry.

Microsoft says it will keep OneCare going until it releases new software code-named Morro in the second half of 2009. This "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."

Amy Barzdukas, senior director of product management for the Online Services and Windows Division at Microsoft, says in a press release:


The market isn't working particularly well at the moment. Most of the money in the anti-malware business goes to Symantec and McAfee, who pay PC manufacturers to have their products pre-installed on new PCs. Some users resent it as crapware, and some are unwilling to pay when the trial version runs out. Unless they make a significant effort to uninstall it and replace it with one of the many free alternatives, they may end up with less protection than they need.

The situation is worse in developing countries where users may not be able to afford commercial offerings or may not have credit cards to pay for them.

As a result, less than half the world's billion or so Windows PCs have up-to-date anti-malware protection. In other words, the whole industry is failing.

It would be much better for users if Microsoft shipped Windows with anti-malware software built in, but anti-trust authorities would presumably prevent that. (The European Commission is so anti-Microsoft it made the company offer Windows without a media player, even though media players are standard issue on computers, smartphones and other devices.) Also, Symantec and McAfee already have a track record of complaining to the EC, having made misleading complaints about the much-improved security in Vista.

Built-in anti-malware software would ultimately reduce the impact that criminal gangs are having on individual users, which should lead to a reduction in spam and identity theft, and greater confidence in ecommerce. This would reduce costs for the whole industry, including ISPs, and improve life for Mac and Linux users as well as Windows users. But I guess that's much less important than Symantec's profits….