Microsoft is prepping a beta release of their free anti-virus software, Morro. There’s no fixed date as yet but with the full version set for launch by the end of the year The Soft has hinted that we’re looking at a matter of weeks/days.

The move comes as one hell of a pain for the likes of McAfee, Symatnec et al who’ve responded with the usual scaremongery about their experience in the field and superior levels protection and blah, blah, blah but their share prices have dropped by a per cent or nonetheless.

Morro appears to be a stripped down version of Microsoft’s failed $40-a-year Live OneCare suite, which was a commercial disaster, and is set to be pulled in November. Doubtless, it’ll have a significantly better uptake now that you don’t have to pay for it and I’ll be interested to see whether the likes of Dell still offer trials for subscription anti-virus. Looking forward to the waves.