In November 2008, Microsoft finally announced that they are going to release a FREE anti-virus scanner for Windows. Currently, it’s called ‘Morro’ (possibly after the Morro Castle – “El Morro Castle, or El Castillo Del Morro, is an old fort that lies on the northernmost point of San Juan, Puerto Rico. For many years, it guarded the entrance to San Juan bay, and defended the city from seaborne enemies.” –knowledgerush)
The new anti-virus software will replace the old ‘Windows Live OneCare’ product that seemed to sputter out. The few times I installed it on client’s machines, I wasn’t impressed. It seemed too… cute? That is, it just didn’t look tough enough to be a virus scanner/protector. Of course, the alternatives have been ‘Norton’, ‘McAfee’, ‘AVG’ or ‘NOD32’. All but the last one, NOD32, are big and clunky, and slows down the system A LOT. The biggest problem is that they try to do too many things at once – anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware and anti-trojan. I ONLY want an anti-virus software to do JUST that. (Of course, I’m not a fan of any “all-in-one” software or device – especially printers!)
Of the four I listed, I prefer NOD32’s Antivirus (NOT their “Smart Security” application) because it’s very thin and light and has done a great job on the 20+ machines I’ve installed it on. But now with Microsoft coming out with a freebie (which is actually the one freebie that they should have come out with, oh, about 10 YEARS ago) it’ll be hard not installing it on client’s machines.
And now, my ‘Windows Live Onecare’ subscription isn’t supported on my main machine running Windows 7. So, I’ll just have to be extra careful until Morro is released to Beta sometime in the next few months. Until then, I’m really liking Windows 7 and will definitely be recommending it to everyone.
