When Microsoft announced that they would be doing away with the less than popular OneCare AntiVirus product, the company also announced that an upcoming free AntiVirus product would be launched at some point during the second half of 2009. The development for this free AntiVirus product has been taking place under the code name of Morro.

According to our sources Morro is really nothing more than a stripped down version of the OneCare product that will be free to consumers. The news of a free AV product coming from Microsoft, of course, has not been well received from the big players in the AntiVirus/Security space; naturally, they are not pleased that Microsoft has elected to give away their AntiVirus product for free while other major AntiVirus/Security players charge as much as $40 to $75 per seat for their products, depending on the type of product and featured included.

While the free Antivirus offering from Microsoft will be strictly an AntiVirus product, most of the major AntiVirus players suggest that most end users need a complete security solution that includes more than just Virus protection, suggesting that security suites that provide protection for spyware, root kits, cookies, and other threats is necessary and worth more than a free AntiVirus-only package.

While OneCare was not popular with users and didn’t seem to do very well in many comparison testing reviews that were written about it, it could be something that many users latch on to using just because it is free. Only time will tell what consumers will do, but the bigger hit to AntiVirus/Security providers could come from business owners who elect to use this solution rather than using a pay solution.