Redmond (WA) - Microsoft will offer a new service that will protect Windows PCs from external attacks and offer maintenance as well as performance tuning in one package. Windows OneCare is currently tested by Microsoft employees, will be offered as broad public beta software thereafter and go commercial later this year.

Microsoft’s recent acquisitions of anti-spyware and anti-virus technologies are beginning to make sense in the firm’s long-term security strategy. "The dynamic nature of the Internet and technology can make the protection, maintenance and optimal performance of PCs a challenge for consumers. Keeping a PC healthy today can be daunting and time-consuming for the average user," the company said in an announcement on Friday.

Later this year, Microsoft will launch a subscription service , named Windows OneCare that will provide automatically updated anti-virus, anti-spyware and two-way firewall protection on the security side. "Performance and reliability" tools that automatically run periodic maintenance tasks such as disk cleanup, hard-drive defragmentation and file repair are included as well. According to Microsoft, there is also a backup capability.

Microsoft did not say if and how much it will charge for the service. Users however should expect that Microsoft will put a price tag on security that will match similar services, provided for example by McAfee or Symantec. Typical anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall services are priced between $20 and $40 per year.

A public and free beta of the software will be released after internal testing is completed, the firm said. The commercial software is scheduled to launch later this year.