Just before Xmas Microsoft purchased Giantsoftware inc whose products included a Great Spyware detector/ deflector program which I posted on this site (on a trial)
It acted like a mix of Spywareblaster & Ad-aware (which are 2 powerful programs)
Anyway it was withdrawn Xmas week? pending the announcement that Microsoft were going to release a version of their own.
And Today January 6th they have launched a beta program based on the Giant software program
It's just over a 6300k Download (nearly 6.25 MBs)
MS have quoted no timeout limit(for database updates) on the FAQ Original was 3 weeks before a nag message came up(to buy)
I'm installing this again and will keep it running until any nag screen appears (Timer starts now...)
Give this link to your Friends
My verdict :A real good weapon to have in your Armoury against the Spyware threat
If you have no SpywareBlaster or Adaware this is a good alternative

Microsoft marketing an anti-spyware program is a bit like an arsonist selling fire insurance.

If a person is really concerned about spyware, the best thing they can do is stop using Internet Explorer!