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whole, since it will tend to fill a gap that currently exists, that being, people who don’t have anti-malware, or have outdated anti-malware.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.

Is Morro a threat to the security business?

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Microsoft never got very far with its subscription-based Windows Live OneCare service, which offered security coverage for up to three PCs for $49.95 a year. Despite the big name behind it, Live OneCare only captured about two percent of the market. Sales of Live OneCare will end on June 30 of next year.

At the same time though, Microsoft is releasing a new product, scheduled for the second half of 2009, code-named Morro. Morro will be a free anti-malware utility. Reportedly, there won’t be a free version coupled with a paid version–the Redmond company’s just going the free route, just to shake things up a little.

The free utility will be designed for lower-powered computers, and will be more suited for home computing environments. Although the anti-virus and anti-spyware utility will be available for free download, it won’t bundle it with Windows–presumably out of antitrust concerns more than anything else.

The free solution is well, free–and you know what they say about free things, you get what you pay for. Although I’ll surely give Morro a run for its money, so to speak, when it’s available, it won’t include the full range of features available in other anti-malware engines, and it won’t include firewalling, or any of the non-security features that were included in OneCare; placing it more in the “entry level” security category. It’s unlikely that companies that are serious about security will pay it much attention.

According to the Microsoft press release, it was created to meet the “demands of emerging markets, smaller PC form factors and rapid increases in the incidence of malware”. The implication then, is that it won’t fit the bill for enterprise or SMB users. Microsoft’s press release did mention emerging markets and developing nations, where a free solution would go a long way towards cutting down malware in third world countries. If you’re running a small mom ‘n pop shop in Bangladesh, Morro will be just the ticket for you, and a good way to move from no security to some security. Home users and SOHO shops may also get some benefit here. But for the rest of us who already use third-party security software, or have more than a couple of computers in the office, Morro won’t offer many advantages, despite being a freebie.

Will Microsoft Morro Shake Up the Security Industry?

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