Windows Defender: Coming to a PC Near You

Microsoft's Windows Defender product will soon enter its next beta stage and will eventually move onto computer at large. What, you never heard of Windows Defender? That's because it's the new product name for the current Windows AntiSpyware solution, which is based on technology Microsoft acquired when it purchased GIANT Software.

Writing in a blog article, Microsoft's anti-malware engineering team said that the new product name was officially selected last week. The name was chosen because " it’s more positive than 'Windows AntiSpyware'. Windows Defender is about what \[the solution\] will do for customers, defending them from spyware and other unwanted software."

Enterprises will begin to see a new product category, "Windows Defender," and a new classification, "Definition Updates," within Windows Server Update Services. The new items are being pushed out in preparation for the next beta release, which is when the product will formally come out with its new name. Malware definition updates will also be pushed out using Windows Update.

Microsoft has also been working to develop Windows Defender for the upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The company will make the same anti-malware technology to be found in Windows Vista available for Windows XP systems.

The next beta will bring more changes to the user interface and the product will install as a system service. Users of Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 can download a copy of current and future beta versions at Microsoft's Windows Antispyware Web site.