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The company has announced that it will launch a new and free anti-malware system codenamed 'Morro' by the second half of 2009. It will also cease selling OneCare subscriptions by the 30th June 2009.

The 'Morro' system aims to "protect against a range of online threats including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans."

The company said that the new security system will "address the demands created by smaller PC form factors, rapid PC growth in emerging markets and the increasing threat from global malware."

This would likely mean that it will work 'in the cloud', rather than using a large, sluggish and system-crippling application that downloads megabytes of updates every few hours. Small PCs often lack the processing power necessary to run demanding security applications

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alongside productivity-based programs (software that lets you actually do things, rather than avoid bad things).

Amy Barzdukas, senior director of product management for the Online Services and Windows Division at Microsoft, said the new service will help more customers across the world protect themselves against the growth of malware.

"Customers around the world have told us that they need comprehensive, ongoing protection from new and existing threats, and we take that concern seriously," she said.

"This new, no-cost offering will give us the ability to protect an even greater number of consumers, especially in markets where the growth of new PC purchases is outpaced only by the growth of malware," added Bardukas.

There are security implications with running software and services online, and this applies just as much to anti-virus software as it does to online word processing and photo editing services. For example, what happens when your laptop is working offline and someone hands you an infected flash drive? If the computer can't ask a server whether or not a file is bad, it may allow malware to infect the system.

In the meantime, new and old OneCare subscribers can expect to receive a service for the lifetime of their paid-for subscriptions, and will be given the opportunity to opt in to using Morro when the new solution is available.