Thanks to BigBoy for the heads up in Back Page News.
Yesterday it was announced on the Microsoft TechNet AntiMalware blog that Microsoft AntiSpyware (currently in beta) will be renamed to Windows Defender. The software, which was purchased from GIANT last year and has been in MS beta since January, had it"s UI updated last Thursday to reflect the new name. It will be making it"s way onto Windows Update, replacing any current MS AntiSpyware installations, as soon as the next beta is finished.
The following extract is from the MS blog: "Every week seems like a big week for us in the engineering team working on our anti-malware technology. However, last week was especially important in a sentimental way. We got the final name for the cool technology our team has been developing for Windows. The name, after long consideration by our product marketing and branding folks, is "Windows Defender"! What"s really cool about this name is that it"s more positive than "Windows AntiSpyware". Windows Defender is about what Windows will do for customers, defending them from spyware and other unwanted software."