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How will Bill Gates' antivirus cliffhanger play out? |
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By John Hogan
10 Feb 2005 | SearchSecurity.com
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Will he or won't he? The suspense over whether Bill Gates will take the wraps off a Microsoft antivirus product at RSA's security conference this month is building to a crescendo.
All right, so it's mostly the media that are getting lathered up about this, but there are others with a keen interest in what Microsoft's co-founder has up his signature-sweater sleeve. Despite their practiced nonchalance about a giant entering their turf, AV vendors have to be feeling a little anxious these days. After all, Microsoft has already come up with antispyware and a malware removal tool that hits perilously close to their sweet spot.
AV vendors may not have much to fear, however, thanks in part to the long arm of the [antitrust] law. Bundling software with Windows is now dangerous territory for Redmond, and just last weekend an MSN executive told a Harvard audience that his company planned to be careful not to run afoul of the government with its new desktop search tool by tying it too closely to Windows. In addition, Microsoft has said in the past that any future AV offering would likely be a standalone product, although it has said precious little on the subject since it acquired Romanian AV maker GeCAD in 2003.
All this circumstantial evidence suggests that a Microsoft AV product that isn't free would just be a new kid on the block in an established field. To make a go of it, Redmond would have to dazzle consumer and enterprise customers with something they can't get right now. That seems highly unlikely, but we may have a better idea on Tuesday, when Gates hits the stage at the RSA show.
Note: This column originally appeared on http://www.SearchWin2000.com
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