Microsoft Security Essentials, as it is called, is the successor to the Windows Live OneCare service and is freely available from the company’s website without paying a fee. All the user needs is a fully legal copy of Windows and an internet connection and they can download the software for free, along with future updates to the virus definitions.

Windows Live OneCare was discontinued earlier this year to make way for this free offering after it suffered lacklustre sales in a very saturated market. Microsoft had hoped for it to challenge the market share of companies such as Symantec and McAfee but it ultimately failed.

Whether users will switch to this anti-virus and internet security suite over established free choices like AVG and Avast! remains to be seen, but with Microsoft trying to carve out a new niche for themselves as a more ‘caring’ software company, it could well help.