From Suzi’s blog, Microsoft’s attempts at hegemony in the security space took a step forward Friday, as two Microsoft bloggers took the wraps of some product plans for “Windows Defender”, nee Microsoft Antispyware.
Not big news. It pretty much confirms what we all knew anyway. It will be part of Vista. Vista will have a security center like XP, but with the addition of an antispyware section. And there’s new news that Defender will run as a service and get its updates from Windows Update.
Steve Dodson: It is going to be a part of VISTA!
The biggest announcement we are making is that Windows Defender will be a part of Vista when it releases. You will be able to run another spyware product instead of Windows Defender if you would like. Although I may shed a small tear, you will be able to disable or turn off Windows Defender and install whichever 3rd party anti-spyware application you would like.
Jason Gams: Every week seems like a big week for us in the engineering team working on our anti-malware technology. However, last week was especially important in a sentimental way. We got the final name for the cool technology our team has been developing for Windows. The name, after long consideration by our product marketing and branding folks, is “Windows Defender”! What’s really cool about this name is that it’s more positive than “Windows AntiSpyware”. Windows Defender is about what Windows will do for customers, defending them from spyware and other unwanted software Our solution has really been about more than just the standard definition of “spyware”. We’ve always said we will provide visibility and control, as well as protection, detection and removal from other potentially unwanted software, including rootkits, keystroke loggers and more.
Alex Eckelberry