Microsoft is getting ready to unveil its free anti-virus software, pitching it into direct competition with companies such as Symantec and McAfee.

A Microsoft spokesman says that the world’s biggest software maker is testing an early version of the product with its own employees. Microsoft will "soon" make a beta version available via its website, he added, although the spokesman declined to provide a specific date.

Investors are closely monitoring the free service, codenamed Morro after Brazil’s Morro de Sao Paolo beach, amid concern it could hurt sales of products from Symantec and McAfee, which generate billions of dollars of revenue a year.

Microsoft claims that Morro will offer basic features for fighting a wide range of viruses, which will likely make it comparable to low-end consumer products from Symantec and McAfee.