Microsoft: 'Stop becoming part of the problem and start becoming part of the solution'

Microsoft has recently made clear its intentions to move into the anti-virus market with its purchase of Romanian AV firm GeCAD.

Now that this news has sunk in the anti-virus companies, to a man, have responded with a resounding "so what!"

None of the major enterprise vendors are losing sleep over Microsoft's entrance, with typical reaction ranging from an almost disbelieving 'that's a bit rich - aren't they to blame for most viruses anyway...' to a more diplomatic "we welcome all competition" (though even that reaction seemed accompanied by an unspoken 'but that ain't Microsoft').

But is this complacency misplaced? Perhaps Gene Hodges, president of Network Associates, had it right when he said : "Of course, you'd be foolish not to worry about Microsoft as a competitor." But even he qualified that by adding "...but it's not in our top five worries."

The issue isn't necessarily whether Microsoft is good enough to make in-roads into the market, it's whether it's powerful enough - and the answer may well prove to be a resounding 'yes'.

Certainly the industry is resigned to the fact that Microsoft will take a large chunk out of the desktop market, even if it surely throws up more anti-competitive concerns.

Any AV software coming out of Redmond is likely to be bundled with future iterations of Windows and home users will doubtless be happy with that. Businesses may be more discerning - we've seen the same division along desktop OS and server lines, but that doesn't mean Microsoft has to like it.

We know from experience Microsoft isn't given to throwing up its arms and saying 'oh well, looks like that market's a closed shop, we'll not bother...'

However, underpinning the whole issue - and potentially protecting the incumbent vendors from serious harm, is the self-harm Microsoft has been causing itself over the past few years.

'Microsoft' and 'security' are not happy bedfellows. There is a lot more than simple acquisitions needed to reverse that perception, and until work is done on achieving that, the idea of Microsoft as an anti-virus company remains a notion which many will struggle to get their heads around.