Microsoft set to unleash OneCare in one day

Microsoft plans to start selling Windows OneCare Live on Thursday, three years after it announced its intention to move into the antivirus space.

OneCare combines antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall software with back-up features and several tune-up tools for Windows PCs. The product will be sold in the US starting on Thursday, Microsoft said on Tuesday. The company plans to expand to international markets in the coming 12 months, it said.

Dennis Bonsall, director of product management for OneCare, said in an interview: "We believe we're creating a new category. It is not about security anymore but it is about holistic PC care."

OneCare will cost $49.95 per year for use on up to three PCs in a home, a competitive price compared to rival products from traditional security vendors including McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro. Many retailers plan to offer rebates and other types of promotions that will discount OneCare, Microsoft said in a statement.

OneCare will be sold on Microsoft's website and boxed versions will be available from retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy, OfficeMax, Costco, Staples, Wal-Mart Stores and Target.

Businesses might be reluctant to buy security products from Microsoft, maker of the software that needs protection, industry analysts have said. On the consumer front, however, Microsoft brings a well-established and largely trusted brand into the market, according to these analysts.

Microsoft announced its intention to offer antivirus products in June 2003 when it bought Romanian antivirus software developer GeCad Software. Plans for OneCare were announced in May 2005. Selected testers have been trying it out since last July and a public test version was released late last year.

About 500,000 people have tested OneCare. Tens of thousands of those testers took advantage of Microsoft's April offer to buy the service at a discounted rate of $19.95 per year, and selected testers have been offered the service for free as part of a "perpetual beta", Microsoft said.

Incumbents in the security space are preparing to respond to Microsoft's entry by integrating features into single products and moving to a subscription model for pricing. McAfee is working on a new product, code-named 'Falcon', and Symantec has a forthcoming project dubbed 'Genesis'. Both are set to rival OneCare.

The global antivirus market is growing; it reached $3.7bn in revenue in 2004, up 36 per cent from 2003, IDC said in December. The market research outfit forecasts the antivirus market will grow to $7.3bn in 2009.

With OneCare, Microsoft is targeting consumers, especially those who do not run security or have let their current product expire. The company says it believes 70 per cent of consumers fall into that category. In a January research note, The Yankee Group estimated the niche as a market worth potentially $15bn.

OneCare is aimed at consumers. But Microsoft is also eyeing the enterprise security market. It is working on a new Microsoft Client Protection product to defend business desktops, laptops and file servers against malicious code attacks. A public beta version of Client Protection is slated to be available in the third quarter of this year.

Joris Evers writes for CNET News.com