Microsoft will limit the number of downloads for the beta of Windows Security Essentials, its new free antivirus software, when it posts the program later today.
Downloads will be capped at 75,000, a Microsoft spokeswoman said late Monday.
Windows Security Essentials, the replacement for Windows Live OneCare, the for-a-fee security package that Microsoft is ditching on June 30, will be available for download at approximately noon, Eastern time, the spokeswoman added. The free download will be posted on a new Microsoft site dedicated to Security Essentials (the page will go live Tuesday).
Microsoft has pitched the software as a basic antivirus, antispyware product that consumes less memory and disk space than commercial security suites like those from vendors such as Symantec and McAfee, and so is suitable for even low-powered PCs such as netbooks.
“Netbooks are one focus of Windows Security Essentials,” said Alan Packer, the general manager of Microsoft’s anti-malware team, in an interview last week. “We have tested it on netbooks, and a gigabyte [of memory] is actually plenty.” He conceded that on systems with slower processors and limited RAM, however, the software will hit performance, especially when users run multiple applications at the same time. “I don’t want to oversell here,” Packer said. “There’s definitely an impact on netbooks, and although we’re trying to minimize [that], you’re going to notice it’s there.”
Consumers won’t be the only ones eager to queue up for a copy of Security Essentials. Antivirus vendors will want an early look to match it against their wares, free or not, as will others in the Windows ecosystem.