What About Microsoft's Morro

What we do and don't know about Microsoft's Morro.

With the details on Microsoft's decision This week to discontinue OneCare next year, it's now time to focus on the product codenamed Morro. Microsoft has revealed very little about Morro so far, mainly because it isn't done. Here's what we know, and what Redmond still refuses to discuss.

What we know

Microsoft can't leave the security market altogether; that would go completely against the huge strides Redmond has made in security over the past couple of years. Enter Morro, a free real-time antimalware solution for consumers to be released in the second half of 2009. It will not be bundled with Windows, and will instead be available as a standalone download for Windows XP/Vista/7. It will be "built on Microsoft's award-winning malware protection engine and will take advantage of the same core antimalware technology that fuels the company's current line of security products," a Microsoft representative told Ars. Furthermore, as more people use Morro, Microsoft will gain access to a larger amount of data that it can then use in security research and improvement of other solutions like Forefront.

Morro won't compete with other security alternatives (which typically do more than just remove malware); Microsoft has given up competing in the security software industry and is aiming for those who currently don't have any sort of security protection. This is between 50 and 60 percent of Windows users, according to the company, either because they refuse to or can't pay for it. "In addition, we believe that many customers will wish to continue with 3rd party security and PC performance protection suites," the representative told us. In short, this should help the company avoid antitrust issues.

What we don't know

When I asked whether Microsoft would work with security vendors to make sure there are no incompatibility problems between Morro and third party solutions, how the company will promote Morro to consumers currently without any protection, whether Windows 7 will have download links for Morro similar to the Windows Live ones, or whether OEMs will be able to bundle Morro on new PCs, I received the standard "We will announce more details closer to the solution being available" response. What I found the most interesting though is that Microsoft wouldn't discuss how Morro would work with or replace Windows Defender if it is already installed (it can be downloaded and installed for XP, is bundled with Vista, and is supposed to ship with Windows 7). How will the two coexist together?

Morro may be a big story now because it came out of the blue, but a while after OneCare is killed, Morro will likely fall back into the shadows, just like Windows Defender did. Whether Microsoft will be able to make a difference with Morro will become clear as soon as we receive more details on the technology.

Read more at the source.


Later Ted

Hi Ted,

IMO, it would almost have to be bundled with OEM or it won't accomplish much. If 50-60% (is it really that high?) of windows users are without security software and there are already several very good, free apps to download, why would they download Morro. People who don't think, know or care about security will continue to not think, know or care about security.

Gary

Hi Gary,

As i understand things with seven Microsoft will be providing download links to all the Live suite of programs with the retail copies of Seven, as they did with Windows Live Mail in Vista.

What worries me is that if Morro is not up to scratch the numbers of inexperienced users who will click on the link download and install the software and thus be badly protected as a result.

I suppose it is a step in the right direction over the current situation where these same newbies are running without any protection.

The case with defender is slightly different in that although it may not be the best, the newbie who runs at default is protected by default.

The best thing for Microsoft to do to protect this class of user in probably to bundle with all versions of the OS. This will of course outrage the anti-trust lobby but if, as so many windows haters say, viruses are an integral mart of windows shouldn't an anti virus be.

I've always thought AV and Firewall should be part of windows. If the firewall doesn't tick off the anti-trust lobby, why should AV? Then again, maybe the firewall does tick them off. Everyone seems to complain that Windows isn't secure and then when MS tries to do something about it, they're mad about that. Go figure!

Gary

To the OP, after installing Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7 RC1 both MSE and Windows Defender are listed as installed. WD continues to have a separate interface and runs its' own scans. The review I read said that MSE would uninstall WD since MSE is both AV & AS, but that's not the case in Windows 7. I have MSE installed on Vista too. I need to reboot into Vista later and see what the arrangement is there. By the way, in the Windows 7 Action Center MSE is referred to as Microsoft Antimalware.