You may have been reading this in the news lately, if you pay attention to the computer section: Microsoft is up to its old tricks again. With Windows 98, MS used its ownership of the operating system to lock out its competitors. By deciding that only its own Internet Explorer browser would appear on the Desktop, and further, integrating the browser into the operating system itself, it dealt a crushing blow to Netscape, the browser that once dominated the market.

Go ahead, ask any PC user which browser they use. When most of them reply “Internet Explorer,” ask them if they chose it after making comparisons and finding the best-quality software. Of course, they’ll simply tell you that they use it because it’s the one that was on the Desktop when they bought the computer. Fact is, Internet Explorer 6, which most people still use, it the single crappiest browser out there, and the most dangerous to boot. The fact that it’s the most popular is a testament to the crippling power of owning the dominant OS.

And now Microsoft is doing it again. With Windows Vista, MS is using its ownership of the operating system to lock out competitors; this time, it’s the anti-virus crowd, where Symantec and McAfee are the big boys. Now, I have no great love for those companies, as you may have noticed; they often release malware warning about the Mac that are loaded with hyperbole and scare-mongering designed to sell product, rather than to protect computers. But then, I have no great love for Microsoft, either, and my biases don’t stop MS’s action from being just as wrong now as they were in the 90’s.

Ever since SP2 for XP came out, you’ll have noticed that Windows now has a highly intrusive “Security Center.” Consisting of a “Firewall,” “Automatic Updates,” and “Virus Protection,” the system makes it well known to you that all kinds of security-related stuff is going on. This system hugely annoyed me when it was installed in SP2. I turned most of it off because I didn’t need it. I don’t download software that might have spyware and adware, and I do almost all my browsing and email on my Mac. I left the Firewall on, but that was it. So I discovered that when you turn off the “protection” that the security center offers, Windows relentlessly reminds you, several times each session, that your computer is not protected. It could take you a bit to figure out how to turn all that junk off.

But if you want to use a third-party anti-virus solution, you might have to figure out how to do just that. Symantec and McAfee are complaining that consumers will be confused because their own “dashboards,” or control panels, will be overshadowed by Microsoft’s, and that to use the third-party software smoothly, each user would have to figure out how to turn off Microsoft’s Security Center, at least to some degree. Having dealt with that myself, I have to admit that it’s not the easiest process in the world.

Furthermore, the anti-virus makers complain that Windows Vista cuts off their access to the OS’s kernel, the core of the operating system, making it more difficult for them to protect against malware. They called it, “locking out the good guys.”

Microsoft sells its own anti-virus software, called “Windows Live OneCare,” a $50 package that includes Windows Defender (which is included in Vista). MS’s “OneCare” software would supplant Symantec’s and McAfee’s software.

And surprise, surprise: Vista’s welcome screen includes a link to OneCare. Almost an exact replay of the Desktop placement of Internet Explorer. I can’t find any information on what MS’s future plans may be insofar as OneCare getting kernel access or even Desktop placement, but it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out why the other anti-virus vendors are ticked off.

But that’s not the only reason you might have to be dissatisfied with Microsoft’s new security “improvements.” It has been long known that as far as piracy and DRM are concerned, Vista is a monument to favoring industry over the customer. Vista effectively assumes you are a criminal, and treats you accordingly. Another aspect of that is that MS is getting plain nasty with anything that even looks like pirated software.

With its new programs, such as IE7 and the new WMP, Windows does an automatic “validation” of the OS. With Vista, reportedly, Microsoft will “lock up” any system that it finds to be non-valid. You’ll find that your anti-spyware software will not work, your system will have limited capabilities, and you’ll be given 30 days to cough up cash to Microsoft, during which time, you’ll get “reminders” to pay with increasing frequency. After 30 days, the OS will allow access to the browser only, for one hour, presumably to let you contact MS and lay an offering of money at their feet. Even after the OS has been activated legitimately, validation checks for pirated software will continue to be made.

Of course, many will find all of this to be unacceptably intrusive, and there is pretty much no doubt that the system will inaccurately identify legitimate users as pirates, causing yet another I’ve-got-to-call-Microsoft-support headaches for paying users.

Are you still not convinced that you should get a Mac?