For almost as long as I've played with PC's, the weaknesses in the Windows operating system has spawned a whole industry cashing in one way or the other.

Like Nortons. First they came out with toolboxes that gave a nice interface to operator system maintenance. The fact that most of the functions could be done with Windows (or prior to that DOS) was besides the point. Their product was simply easier and more intuitive to get the job done.

Then came the internet and with ever increasing take-up of the technology, so too came viruses, trojans and all the other nasties we see nowadays. A big chunk of the problem being Windows weaknesses yet again. And the list and size of the beneficiaries grew.

Windows had overcome much of the basic user interface issues but still had a healthy dose of flaws which kept security software folk laughing all the way to the bank. To the point that Nortons is now far better known for their security products than their PC maintenance products.

So look what's happening now....

Just a couple of months before Windows Vista ships to businesses, Microsoft is worried that the project may be delayed again, or delivered with reduced security -- though only in Europe. If that happens, you can mostly thank United States software giant Symantec, which has been loudest in its opposition, although another security vendor, McAfee, has also been agitating for change.

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Symantec's Norton 2007 already disables the Windows Security Center in XP, so it stops working, and Paden wants to do the same in Vista. That way, users will only see Symantec's security centre, "the one they've paid for".
get the full story from M&G here
If Microsoft manages to deliver a much more secure OS without the flaws that have plagued previous products, bang goes that rather lucrative security industry.

And I'm not sure that Symantec or McAfee are going to be able to appeal to monopoly restricting legislation; that would be tantamount to insisting that Microsoft deliberately deliver a defective product so that we, the consumer, can get exploited by the security software companies!!

As the article implies - it seems the writing has been on the wall for a while.