Ditching OneCare in favour of free anti-malware signals move to protect users rather than sell software

Microsoft surprised everyone by doing a U-turn when it announced that it would stop selling its OneCare subscription service next summer and start giving away new anti-malware software codenamed Morro, after a beach resort in Brazil.

Microsoft reckons that less than half of all Windows users have up-to-date anti-malware protection, and many have no anti-malware software at all. This is particularly true in emerging markets - such as Brazil - where inexperienced users are still somewhat naïve about the threats.

In effect, Microsoft has decided that it's more important to try to protect these users than to make money in the developed world, though perhaps it wasn't making much money anyway. As McAfee, an anti-malware rival, commented, somewhat acerbically: "With OneCare's market share of less than 2%, we understand Microsoft's decision to shift attention to their core business."

Of course, Windows Live OneCare offers much more than anti-malware protection and a firewall. The service also includes computer management facilities such as tune-ups and hard drive backups both for standalone machines and for multiple PCs on home networks.

Morro will offer much less: it's just anti-malware software, though how it will work with Microsoft's current - and also free - application Windows Defender is unclear. However, Amy Barzdukas at Microsoft says Morro will not be limited in functionality. It will use the same core technology and infrastructure as Forefront, which Microsoft sells to businesses. The business version of OneCare will also die.

"It's meant to be comprehensive enough to protect you against spyware, viruses, rootkits and Trojans," says Barzdukas. "We would of course continue to tell consumers to take additional steps, such as to use a firewall."

But it won't include spam blocking, identity protection and other features you might find in security suites from Symantec, McAfee and other suppliers. "If people want to have a broader suite solution, that's OK with us," says Barzdukas. "We just want them to be protected, whether it's our solution or somebody else's."

Perhaps the simplest way to protect consumers would be to include anti-

malware software with the operating system, but that won't happen. Barzdukas stresses that Morro will not be part of Windows.

Many users already get anti-malware software with the operating system because Symantec, McAfee and others pay manufacturers to distribute trial versions of their suites with new PCs. Microsoft can't be seen as competing unfairly against these paid-for suites by bundling free protection. It has already been hit with antitrust lawsuits for including Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player as part of the operating system, even though alternatives were readily available as free downloads.

But Morro is still a work in progress. Barzdukas had to answer several of my questions by saying "that hasn't been decided yet". Morro looks increasingly like a pre-announcement, which will give rival vendors the chance to pitch their wares ahead of Morro's arrival "in the second half of 2009". But at the moment, they don't seem concerned. Both Symantec and McAfee put out statements to the effect that they've been in the business a long time, know more about security than Microsoft and have better products.