The Commission does not intend to prevent Microsoft from improving the security of its products in general and Vista in particular, Todd said. It will not require Microsoft to ship products without security software, he said. "Improving the security of Microsoft products is a welcome development and not one to which the Commission has ever objected," he added.
Vista will include anti-spyware software called "Windows Defender" and a new Windows Security Center that tells people the status of the protection on their PC. Companies such as Symantec and McAfee also sell their own alternatives to both technologies.
Symantec and some of Microsoft's other security rivals have publicly complained about other aspects of Vista--specifically, a feature called "PatchGuard" that Microsoft says is designed to guard core parts of the 64-bit version of the operating system against attacks. However, the technology also locks out helpful software from security rivals, the critics have claimed.
The Commission has requested comments from security providers, including Symantec, about the new Windows operating system.
"We have responded to inquiries from the Commission," Symantec spokesman Cris Paden said. The questions covered the security industry overall, he said, declining to be more specific. The European body has asked for information several times since June last year--most recently, in July, he said.
European tour
Microsoft sent its security chief on a European tour last week. Ben Fathi, a vice president in Microsoft's Security Technology Unit, presented the security features in Vista to journalists, analysts and government officials, the company said. Fathi did not, however, meet with EU competition authorities, it said.
Fathi's presentation included several slides on PatchGuard, BitLocker, Windows Security Center and Windows Defender--the same technologies that concern Microsoft's competition and that the EU is believed to be looking at.
"These are four different technologies that we feel there is confusion about, even amongst our customers," Stephen Toulouse, a Microsoft Security Response program manager, said. "They raise the baseline of security for the operating system."
One recent change to Vista made in response to industry requests is the ability for third-party products to turn off Windows Defender, rather than requiring the user to do it, Toulouse said. Prior to Release Candidate 1 of the operating system, delivered early this month, there was no way to automatically disable the Microsoft anti-spyware tool when installing a competing product.
This had been a sticking point with some of Microsoft's rivals, including Symantec. "Up until recently, Microsoft had refused to give us an interface to disable Defender," said Bruce McCorkendale, a chief engineer at Symantec.
The Commission's position is that computer security depends on variety and innovation in security software, Todd said.
"Microsoft's design of the security features in Vista should not put this diversity and innovation at risk. This might occur if reputable third-party security vendors, which have proven experience in addressing security problems, are prevented from competing on an equal footing," he said.
The back-and-forth between Microsoft and the Commission may yet lead to a delay of Vista, Kay predicts. "We come down to the wire on the Vista launch," he wrote. "The sides are not too far apart, but a gap, sufficiently large to cause a potential delay in the European launch, still exists."
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