One year after it surprised rivals and partners by jumping into the anti-virus market, Microsoft Corp. still has no clear AV strategy, and users are still hanging on to the promise of integrated Windows protection. The company's sluggish AV development is a far cry from the plans Microsoft trumpeted when it acquired the Romanian company GeCAD Software Srl. last June. At the time, officials in Redmond, Wash., said they planned to use GeCAD's technology to develop new products and enhance the security protections in Windows. The news enticed some users but worried others. And it was especially disturbing to anti-virus vendors such as Computer Associates International Inc., Symantec Corp. and Network Associates Inc. The vendors, all major Microsoft partners, along with some enterprise security managers, were concerned that building AV into Windows would force users to accept the company's solution and abandon third-party tools.
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