Microsoft’s recent announcement that it has made amendments to Windows Vista in accordance with European competition rules has left many watchers disputing its pledge of a level playing field and asking for more detail.

On 13 October, Microsoft said it had taken action in three key areas following discussions with EC competition commissioner Neelie Kroes. These include making it simpler for firms to choose non-Microsoft search services in Internet Explorer 7, submitting the XPS document format specification that competes with PDF to a standards body, and security changes. The security changes comprise turning off alerts in Windows Security Centre when a rival product is installed, and providing kernel-level access for security software vendors alongside its own PatchGuard system.

“It is a process that has enabled us to fulfil our obligations under competition law, while also meeting the needs of computer users,” said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith in a conference.

However, some rivals were unimpressed.

Siobhan MacDermott, corporate communications vice-president at McAfee, said, "We did receive a document from Microsoft that contained the SDK for Windows Security Center only. We continue to have questions pertaining to this document and have asked Microsoft for meetings and/or additional clarification about what Microsoft has sent us. To date, we have not had any cooperation from Microsoft and no response on McAfee's repeated requests to review the information.”

MacDermott also disputed Microsoft’s claim to be co-operating with security rivals.

“Contrary to what it says publicly, Microsoft has not co-operated with the leading security providers. In fact, we have not received anything at all from Microsoft concerning PatchGuard. From McAfee's perspective, it is not at all acceptable for Microsoft to wait until a service pack and not offer us kernel access until after the launch of Vista. We urge Microsoft to give security vendors this access as quickly as possible and not wait until the eleventh hour so that we can offer our customers the best protection."

In a statement, another security giant, Symantec, also took issue with Microsoft.
“Symantec has yet to actually see the final detailed information needed to address our concerns regarding Windows Security Centre or PatchGuard,” it said.

“The operative question is exactly when will the final detailed information be made available to security providers? It is important to note that the Vista operating system is slated to ship to OEM within the next few weeks. Therefore, security providers would need to have the final detailed information to address their concerns about Windows Security Centre and PatchGuard provided to them in a timely manner.”