Morro

Microsoft is set to release a FREE virus protection software in the second half of 2009. It's their response to the growing need for PC security and they call it "Morro." This new antivirus will gradually replace Windows Live OneCare subscription service, of which retail sale will be stopped by June 30, 2009.

Morro is reported to use "fewer computer resources, making it ideal for low-bandwidth scenarios or less powerful PCs." Hello third-world computing!

Honestly, the first thing that entered my mind upon hearing Morro were the Muslims. The Philippine Moro, though, has a single R so it might not be it. But come to think of it, it's such an appropriate name for an antivirus if they based it upon the Moro of the Philippines. Moros are fighters; fearless ones. And who better fight the Trojan horse! The virus, btw, was derived from The Aenid, an epic poem by Virgil. In the poem, the Trojan horse was used by the Greeks to deceive the Trojans themselves, and that exactly is what the Trojan horse virus do - it appears to do a desirable function but is in fact destroying your computer. So what's the better way to destroy the Trojans? Bring in the Moro, or in MS's case, the "Morro."

And since Trojan is derived from literature, Moro is also part of the Philippine literature. Moro-moro is a play popular during the Spanish colonial period, and is about the battle between the Christians and Muslims of Spain.

Meanwhile, Morro (with two Rs) mean something else in other countries (mostly Spanish speaking ones). It can mean a snout, a hill, and even lack of shame.

Shame.

Photo via the movie Troy