Microsoft is readying a new consumer security product that offers virus and spyware protection, a new firewall and several tune-up tools for Windows PCs, a move that pits the software giant squarely against traditional security software vendors.

The product, dubbed Windows OneCare, will be tested internally at Microsoft starting this week. A public test, or beta, version is scheduled to be available by year's end, Microsoft said in a statement late Thursday. The final product will be offered as a subscription service, the Redmond, Wash., software maker said.

OneCare marks Microsoft's long-anticipated entry into the anti-virus space, until now the domain of specialized vendors such as Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro. Microsoft announced its intent to offer antivirus products two years ago when it bought Romanian antivirus software developer GeCAD Software SRL.

But OneCare will do more than guard against viruses and worms. The product also will include spyware protection and a new firewall that scans incoming and outgoing traffic. The firewall already included in Windows scans only incoming traffic.

Microsoft acquired anti-spyware technology late last year from Giant Company Software. A beta of a stand-alone anti-spyware product has been available since January. That technology will be part of OneCare, company representatives said.

Additionally, OneCare will offer improved back-up and restore capabilities and easy access to PC maintenance tools already in Windows for file repair, hard disk clean up and hard disk defragmentation, Microsoft said.

"The idea is to bring it all together for the customer," said Dennis Bonsall, a group product manager at Microsoft.

OneCare is targeted at consumers, not businesses. Microsoft is especially looking to target the 70% of consumer PC users who don't have protection because current offerings are too complex or take too much time to manage, Bonsall said.

Microsoft is designing OneCare to be very straightforward, Bonsall said. OneCare includes a PC "health meter" similar to the Windows Security Center in Windows XP Service Pack 2. The health meter will display green, yellow or red to indicate the state of the PC and OneCare will help users take action, if needed.

With OneCare consumers will win and existing security vendors stand to lose, according to Van Baker, a Gartner analyst in San Jose.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.