Microsoft antivirus starts public testing next week

The question is whether Microsoft will be allowed to help users who want help, or whether vested interests will get in the way

Microsoft will start the public beta-test of its free antivirus software, codenamed Morro, next week at However, you may not get the chance to try it then, if you even want to. According to ZD Net's Ed Bott: "The public beta will be limited to 75,000 downloads."

Morro is not as comprehensive as the paid-for OneCare (which included a Managed Firewall, PC Performance Tuning, Data Backup and Restore, Multi-PC Management, and Printer Sharing) but offers more protection than the free Windows Defender.

Bott has been testing what we can now call Microsoft Security Essentials, and says that:

Contrary to some recent reports, this isn't a cloud-based service. Instead, it offers a dynamic signature service that pushes signatures on a daily basis, but adds the ability to query the signature service when need to reduce the window of exposure to new malware. By monitoring for suspicious behavior, the service can query for a sample when necessary. Rootkit detection features target kernel-mode malware and can detect the sort of tampering in the kernel that is typical of rootkits.

The service is similar to the antivirus part of the discontinued One Care, which tested well in May 2009, when "the independent AV-Comparatives group" gave it its highest (Advanced+) rating. Bott says:

Only 3 of the 16 products in the test earned that rating. Microsoft's technology scored second in the accuracy ratings, behind AVIRA but ahead of AVG, Symantec, McAfee, and a dozen other products. And on the crucial measure of delivering the fewest false positives, Microsoft stood far ahead of the pack, delivering the fewest false positives of any program tested.

Sadly, the better it works then the more bananas Symantec and McAfee are going to get, and Symantec is taking an early lead. In a press release, Lee Sharrocks, Symantec's Vice President Consumer Sales EMEA says:

Microsoft isn't going to change the dynamics of the consumer security industry. The reality is that shareware and freeware vendors have been in the market for 20-plus years. The freeware space is crowded and Microsoft is just joining the fray. In addition, early reviews of the beta are showing that it underperforms when compared to existing freeware products, and well below paid solutions such as Norton AntiVirus.

In that case, Mr Sharrocks, we can assume that Symantec (which pays PC manufacturers to install its own suite as crapware) won't need to go bleating to its friends in the European Commission. It's a pretty good bet that that's exactly what Symantec will do. But if not, damage is already being done.

There was an interesting paragraph in Ars Technica's report:


Ars describes this as "a curious decision" because it doesn't make any sense. "Nevertheless, it can be quite easily explained: Microsoft wants to avoid antitrust issues."

In fact, what's really happening is that Microsoft is doing its best to keep away from the European Commission's idiot clutches even though this means not doing what would be best for users. It's an example of the fear of irrational EC action damaging the interests not just of European consumers, but of the rest of the world's, too.

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