Microsoft Opening Up Vista Kernel To Security Vendors

Microsoft also bent to demands from security vendors and the EU’s antitrust agency that it change its Vista plans for Windows Security Center, the operating system’s security dashboard. It will not entirely disable the dashboard, as it allowed third-party vendors to do with the same-named feature in Windows XP but will let security rivals program their wares to eliminate alerts from Security Center that duplicate ones issued by the vendor’s own console.

Microsoft has compromised with security vendors who’ve been demanding access to the kernel of the upcoming Vista operating system so that they can update their security offerings, two analysts confirmed Friday.

Following conversations with the European Union, Microsoft will make two security-related changes to Vista. First, it will create a new set of APIs, which will let third-party security vendors access information from the kernel. Microsoft will also build additional APIs to make sure Vista’s security status dashboard — Windows Security Center — doesn’t send duplicate alerts to users who have installed a rival dashboard.

Both issues had been raised by long-time Microsoft partners Symantec and McAfee, which went public with their concerns last month.