With Friends Like Microsoft...

Microsoft has finally released its new free security software for PCs. Aside from the irony of Microsoft, home of security flaws, providing applications to protect PCs from security flaws, there is a more interesting dynamic. The company is undercutting a number of long-standing partners, such as McAfee and Symantec, with the combination now of anti-virus and firewall. But this is more a desperation move than anything else.

Consider where Microsoft has been for a while:

• terrible Vista sales
• even worse luck in the mobile phone market
• success in gaming consoles at the price of having to repair or replace so many units at the cost of billions
• growing competition for Office from Google
• painful competition from Apple, which keeps pushing the "we don't need no antivirus" stance

But it's a bad one. For years, Microsoft has developed the reputation of stringing companies along and then absorbing the capabilities into the OS. I've seen an email exchange where one of the big antivirus names tried to dismiss the idea of a free competitor, noting that there have been others over the years. Sure, and none of them were being pushed by such a large company. It's clearly going to torque some sensibilities at a time when Microsoft could use all the friends it can get. Instead, it's been pushing companies away and losing one patent suit after another.

Image via stock.xchng user imaspy, site standard license.