Several reporters have asked me what the Windows OneCare Live widespread beta means to security software vendors, such as McAfee, Panda, Symantec or Trend Micro. What OneCare foreshadows is significant.
According to the release notes: "Windows OneCare will not be compatible with the Windows Vista operating system (formerly codenamed 'Longhorn') when that operating system is released."
With Microsoft's big emphasis on security in Windows vista, OneCare incompatibility is tough to rationalize. Why should Microsoft's major new consumer software product be incompatible with its major new operating system? One explanation makes sense: That Microsoft will bundle similar capabilities found in Windows OneCare, including antivirus, into Windows Vista.
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