A new security service from Microsoft Corp. will charge users $49.95 per year to better protect its Windows operating system from spyware, viruses and other Internet attacks.

Microsoft plans to release the product in early June.

Called Windows OneCare Live, the subscription service will compete with security products made by traditional Microsoft partners, including Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. -- although the software giant insists that its aim is not to run those companies out of business.

Ryan Hamlin, general manager of Microsoft's Technology Care and Safety Group, said Microsoft is less concerned with converting people already using other products. Instead, Hamlin says Microsoft's goal is to provide protection for users who don't have any added or up-to-date security -- a group that Microsoft estimates comprises 70 percent of consumer users.

"There's plenty of room here, kind of, for all of us," Hamlin said.