Microsoft to quit one care

Microsoft Corp. will dump its Windows Live OneCare consumer security software next year and instead give away revamped, streamlined antimalware software that it's calling "Morro" for the moment.

A longtime rival called the move the equivalent of Microsoft raising the white flag. "We view this announcement as a capitulation by Microsoft and a reinforcement of the notion that it's simply not in Microsoft's DNA to provide high-quality, frequently updated security protection," said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president of consumer software at Symantec Corp., in an e-mail today.

Morro, which will rely on the same scanning engine that OneCare and other Microsoft security products currently use, will be available in the second half of 2009, said Amy Barzdukas, a senior director of product management at Microsoft. The software will provide a "basic level of antimalware protection," including defenses against viruses, worms, Trojan horses, rootkits and spyware, she said.

Windows Live OneCare, meanwhile, will get the boot as of June 30, when it will be dropped from retail sales.