Geez first they create the problem and then they charge you to fix it.
What incentive is there to create a secure OS?  Now that is  a racket!
I will stick with one of the other AV software firms thank you.  -- MZ

From forbes:   Update 4: Microsoft to Buy Anti-Virus Software Firm
02.08.2005, 02:30 PM

Microsoft Corp. announced plans Tuesday to acquire a company whose
software aims to protect corporate networks from e-mail borne threats
and said it would sell a product based on the technology.

The deal for Sybari Software Inc., along with word that Microsoft is
gearing up to release its first set of commercial antivirus products,
could hurt security companies including Symantec Corp. and McAfee
Inc., whose stock prices fell.

Terms of the deal, the latest in a series of security-related
purchases by Microsoft, were not disclosed. Sybari is privately held
but filed papers last year for an initial public stock offering.

The Sybari acquisition will produce Microsoft's first official
separate paid antivirus offering, said Mike Nash, corporate vice
president of Microsoft's Security Business and Technology Unit.

Sybari has about 10,000 clients and is based in East Northport, N.Y.
Its software scans businesses' e-mail to try to ward off attacks.

Nash said Microsoft would make the Sybari-based product, geared toward
business customers, available under the Microsoft brand soon after the
deal closes.

Microsoft has not yet said how much the new product will cost.

In an interview, Nash said Microsoft would subsequently release other
products, for both consumers and business users, aimed at protecting
computer desktops from Internet-based attacks. He could not yet say
exactly when those would be released, however.

Symantec shares fell 1.33 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $22.27 on the
Nasdaq Stock Market on Tuesday, while shares in McAfee dropped $2.19,
or 8.4 percent, to $23.77 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sybari is just the latest company Microsoft has bought so it can make
its own security products.

It purchased a Romanian antivirus firm, GeCAD Software Srl., for an
undisclosed amount in 2003. Then, in December, it bought Giant Company
Software Inc., which makes tools to remove spyware, software that
monitors a person's computer habits, slows down computers, triggers
pop-up ads and worse.

Earlier this year, Microsoft began offering free programs to remove
viruses and spyware. It plans to eventually charge for more
sophisticated antivirus tools, and it has said it may one day charge
for spyware removal products as well.

The moves all come amid a continued onslaught of attacks against
Microsoft's dominant Windows operating system and other products. As
the attacks tangle up businesses and harm consumers, the company has
made bolstering security a priority.

Until now, however, those efforts have involved free offerings,
including monthly security patches and a major security upgrade to the
Windows XP operating system.

Offering more sophisticated security tools for a fee could threaten
companies that sell similar products.

Enrique Salem, a Symantec senior vice president in charge of security
products, downplayed Microsoft's latest move into his company's turf.

He said Symantec's big business customers want products that can work
with multiple platforms, including open-source Linux as well as
Windows, and argued that the Sybari-based Microsoft offering will only
solve part of a client's problems.

Microsoft shares rose 10 cents to $26.26 in afternoon trading on the
Nasdaq Stock Market.

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