Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Washington, U.S., announced on the 13th that it will offer OneCare, a one-stop service that strengthens PC security and performance. (Details: OneCare Announcement)
This subscription-based service is designed to make it easy for ordinary users to securely address PC performance, viruses, and related concerns. Beta testing began within Microsoft this week.
The company acquired Romanian antivirus software maker RAV Antivirus the year before last, so providing such functionality had been considered only a matter of time. The service is expected to become available to general users later this year.
An impact on the share prices of antivirus providers Symantec and McAfee appears unavoidable. Such companies will likely need to find opportunities in higher-value-added services and support for platforms other than Windows.