Hotmail Gets Antivirus Protection

Microsoft has rolled out the first of its initiatives to fend off recent competition from rival e-mail services, offering Hotmail users free antivirus protection. "By using MSN Hotmail, you have the only free global e-mail service to both scan and clean incoming and outgoing e-mail for viruses and worms," Microsoft wrote to customers. The company will announce additional Hotmail upgrades in the coming weeks, including increased e-mail storage as a response to moves by Yahoo! and Google.