Microsoft have gone into the Anti-spyware business. The program is still in the beta stage and is at present free to download. However, it could come at a price when the final product is released.

I'm running the beta software on XP Pro SP2. First impressions are that it runs OK and is a fairly comprehensive tool, even having the ability to reset an IE highjacked homepage. If this works as claimed, then that should save alot of heartache for IE users and the people who try and advise how to get things back to normal. The software also has a spyware monitor. With this running in the background, hijackings and the installations of malware should be prevented from getting onto the computer in the first place ...hopefully.

On an initial scan with Microsoft AntiSpyware, a couple of entries in the Registry were picked up on that were considered to be nasties. These were to do with searchsquire.com. I don't know how long they'd been there because Spybot and Ad-Aware hadn't picked up on them, They didn't seem to be affecting IE's or Firefox's operation though.

The new beta software is based on Giant AntiSpyware. The company that produced this has now been acquired by Microsoft. This being the case, the software should run reliably since it has been around for a while. The 'beta' part must come in Microsoft's presentation of it (the interface and possibly other changes).

I'm a Firefox user but maybe the thing to do is switch to using IE for a while to see what transpires. If it's a product that's been around for a while but with a different name, perhaps it'll be OK. No ill effects noticed so far anyway.

MicroSoft AntiSpyware can be downloaded from here but be aware that it only at the beta stage so results are not guaranteed. I haven't had any trouble with it but this isn't to say this will be the case for everyone. Just don't shoot the messenger, that's all!

Of course, it could be argued that Windows operating systems shouldn't be so vulnerable to malware in the first place and that, since they seem to be, the software for remedying the problems should be free. We'll wait and see.