by Irene Lizarraga

Created on: June 19, 2009   Last Updated: July 24, 2009

Microsoft has just announced the launch of its very own free anti-virus offering for the home user, ready to compete with other popular commercial offerings such as Symantec's Norton Antivirus or McAffee. But how far this competition is going to affect such giants on the industry?

The first reactions to the announcement were not positive for either of those companies, with their shares dropping 0.5 for Symantec and about 1.3 for McAffee, but considering the product is still on internal beta, that might be a bit of a passing reaction, and can change once the product goes public. It will also be important if the product comes bundled with Windows OS (or as an automatic security update to it) or users need to find and install it. All of this, assuming the final product is comparable in quality and frequency of updates to the above commercial security solutions.

Microsoft Windows OS has a mixed history on security, both as a preferred target for all kinds of virus and spy-ware and as a provider of security solutions. The launch of Live OneCare on 2006 failed to make a real commercial impact, as consumers stayed with their old and proved anti-virus solution. Their anti-malware tool (that comes as a security update) wasn't designed to compete with full security suites. Also they have been reported in the media a few many times as being slow to react to known vulnerabilities in their products, and that might put future users off since word-of-mouth is a big factor for this audience. However, they are a big company with plenty of money and brilliant minds on it, so this doesn't mean their anti-virus solution won't have a quality comparable to the current market leaders, even if they might have a difficult time getting the general public to believe that.

It's worth noting that this new product will only compete in the home user market target audience, and shouldn't affect the commercial offerings for business, which after all are the most likely to pay for a good anti-virus software. There's already some well known free anti-virus systems for the home user in the market, such as Avast Home Edition, or AVG which are becoming more and more popular and user friendly. However, there's no such free offering for commercial use.

Judging by the previous behaviour of users towards bundled Microsoft features (IE web browser for example) if Microsoft decides to push it as an integral part of the Windows OS most home users won't bother to actually install a different one. However, many PC manufacturers already have agreements with either Symantec or McAffee to bundle their products (usually a free limited time trial version, that can be activated to the full version by purchasing a license) with every PC their sell, avoiding the need for the user to do it. And the names "Norton Anvirus" or "McAffee" have a reputation for security in the average household that, sadly, Microsoft has not.

Are Symantec and McAffee in for a bit of a loss in market share? Yes, definitely they are, same as when any new player enters the field. But dislodging those two giants from the top positions as most respected and best selling security solutions is no small feat, and Microsoft is going to have a very hard time competing with them. In any case, the ones who're going to benefit from more competition and a wider offer are going to be the end users.

Learn more about this author, Irene Lizarraga.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.