Microsoft Anti-Spyware is now Microsoft Defender

Microsoft has decided to give its under beta testing software Microsoft Anti-Spyware a total makeover. And they are now renaming it Microsoft Defender. The application has been developed to remove spyware applications from the computer, which have plagued the windows based operating systems for long. The application is now being upgraded to detect rootkits, keystroke loggers, and other threats in addition to spywares.

This update would be a part of the next operating system from the company Microsoft Vista due to be released sometime next year. They also have plans to release it for the Windows XP operating system for which a beta tested version is already available in the form of current generation Microsoft Anti-Spyware. They were due to release another update to this beta last month but it somewhat got delayed.

The software giant is also changing the way updates are delivered to this software application. Instead of providing the updates from inside the operating system, they would now be delivered through Windows Update. Microsoft Defender is still under heavy development and a final version is only expected to be released after sometime. A Microsoft representative spoke about this updated utility: “We expect Windows Defender to appear in the next Windows Vista Community Technology Preview release.”

This next Vista Community Technology Preview release is expected to be out before the end of the current year when the testing community would get to see the changes in this update utility.