According to Mary Jo @ Microsoft-Watch.com, Microsoft is preparing to release a Subscription based service of Anti-Virus and Spyware. code-named A1. The development is strictly limited to those on the dev team and close partners. Although this is the subscription based version of Microsoft"s AV/AS, it doesn"t necessarily mean that Microsoft will not release free versions.
According to Microsoft-watch, "Some elements of A1 are likely to be built directly into future versions of Windows, according to partners. Specifically, some of the security-management functionality, such as the security-health-validation technology which Microsoft officials discussed last year, would likely be bundled into Windows itself, partners said."