Microsoft announce anti-virus software

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Microsoft has announced that it is intending to release an all in one software suite aimed at helping users keep their Windows based PC 'healthy'. By healthy Microsoft mean to both protect a PC, and to ensure it's optimum performance.

The Windows OneCare software will be a subscription based service, which we believe means that it will not be free. It will offer a wide range of capabilities, including the following:

• Defense against viruses and spyware, as well as two way firewall protection
• Performance and reliability tools including disk cleanup, hard drive defragmentation and file repair.
• Backup and restore capabilities to allow users to automate the backup of their files on to CD or DVD, as well as the ability to restore saved versions of files back onto their PC

Many of the above services such as disk cleanup and defragmentation already ship with Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Anti-Spyware would seem to cover the spyware side of things, so the only really new thing here would seem to be the anti-virus announcement. That and the fact that everything will be accessible from one easy to find and manage location.

It's going to be interesting to gauge user response to this one. Many will feel cheated that they are having to pay extra to Microsoft to secure a Microsoft Operating System that they would expect to be performant and secure out of the box.

The Windows OneCare product is currently being internally tested by Microsoft employees, before being released as a public beta to the U.S. audience later on in the year. In the meantime, here's a quote from Ryan Hamlin, general manager of the Technology Care and Safety Group at Microsoft, telling the world about the Windows OneCare product:

Windows OneCare is the next major advance in our ongoing efforts to help keep consumers' Windows-based PCs 'healthy' in a way that's simple and as worry-free as possible for them. We're designing the service so it will continually update and evolve over time, helping to ensure that our customers will have the most complete and effective protection and safety services in place every time they turn on their PC.

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