Microsoft’s Morro = Free Antivirus, But Is It Worth It?

Microsoft announced more details about its new service Morro, its plan for Microsoft Security Essentials. Morro is a free antivirus service for Windows that looks like it really can give Symantec and McAfee a run for their money. Should they be worried? Check out some of the details below.

The most important detail to me: free. Sure I want to protect my computer from the zillions of threats out there, but when the money starts coming out of my pocket I start feeling like I need to live a little more on the edge and maybe surf Hulu and io9 without protection. But Morro has some actual features that I could get behind as well.

• Real-time protection
• Lightweight design (not as many features as the security suites you buy)
• Idle-time scanning
• CPU throttling
• Rootkit Protection

There are ups and downs to these features. Obviously if you go with something like Morro you won't be getting the protection you would from real antivirus software, but this slimmed down version of Microsoft's Live OneCare is definitely far better than nothing, and may have Symantec and McAfee feeling a little uncomfortable. Microsoft has already got Google and Nintendo squirming. Who's next, Microsoft? Are you going to launch a new social networking site to rival Facebook?

We'll have to wait and see, but it seems like Microsoft is riding an uncommon wave of success right now, so you probably should at least check out Morro it will be available to download on June 23.

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