Windows Defender goes gold, removes Win2K support
eWeek | at | by Mike
Windows Defender, the free anti-spyware tool born out of Microsoft's December 2004 acquisition of Giant Co., has hit the gold milestone, but Windows 2000 users might want to start looking for alternative protection.
At the RSA Europe conference in Nice, France, Microsoft announced the general availability of Windows Defender for Windows XP users and made it clear that the software will no longer support Windows 2000, which will be out of mainstream life cycle support in October 2006.
The final release is available Oct. 24 for Windows XP users, and Microsoft plans to ship it to other Windows-supported localized languages within a few weeks. Windows Defender will also be included as part of Windows Vista, which is scheduled for release in January 2007.