Microsoft is getting ready to launch the public beta of its free anti-malware product, code-named “Morro.” Because it’s free, and because it has the power of Microsoft behind it, it’s likely that there will be some major upheaval in the security market, at least in terms of perception. In reality, it won’t make that much of a difference.

Granted, “free” carries a lot of weight, but will it be a competitive threat? Will it displace other security products? Not likely. Morro will be a decidedly low-end product. Useful? Yes. But Microsoft isn’t really targeting corporate users here, and most corporate users wouldn’t be interested anyway. It will have some utility for home users, especially the home users that tend to slack off and avoid paying subscription fees. In the end, I think the presence of a free Morro will help the industry as a whole, since it will tend to fill a gap that currently exists, that being, people who don’t have anti-malware, or have outdated anti-malware. According to most reports, the majority of anti-virus software vendors are not seeing Morro as a serious threat.