Posted By: Brad Martin

Mon Oct 16, 8:52 AM ET

ROME (Reuters) - Microsoft said it would make available on
Monday parts of key data to security software firms such as
Symantec (Nasdaq:SYMC - news) and McAfee (NYSE:MFE - news) to enable their products
to work smoothly with its new Vista operating system.
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Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) has promised the additional information
to comply with European Union requirements that stem from the
EU executive's landmark 2004 decision that the U.S. company
used its dominant Windows system to damage competitors.

The codes are important for the companies as they will
allow them to suppress Microsoft's own security "pop-ups" if a
PC user decides to buy alternative security software, thus
keeping brands such as Norton clearly separate from that of
Microsoft.

But Microsoft is still developing software essential to the
companies so they can block "spyware" and other malicious
software.

It will give them access to the core, or "kernel" of the
64-bit version of Vista, something they have always had with
past versions of Windows.

Asked when Microsoft would deliver the data, the company's
chief executive, Steve Ballmer, told Reuters: "Today, Seattle
time, not Rome time."

He was speaking on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting
with a bank in the Italian capital.

The codes are part of changes Microsoft said last week it
would make after the European Commission, the EU's top
antitrust authority, said it had concerns that Vista and
Microsoft's behavior could push software makers out of the
market.

The data in question are Application Program Interfaces, or
APIs, which are in essence "levers" or "buttons" that other
companies call upon so their software will run on Windows.

The APIs are expected to be made available on a Web site to
which security software providers have exclusive access, a
Brussels-based spokesman for Microsoft said.

KEEPING CLOSE EYE

Other software makers, such as Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE - news), maker of the
fixed document format software "pdf," and Google (Nasdaq:GOOG - news), the
search engine, were also worried about Vista because of the way
Microsoft had tied in its own software with similar functions.

On Monday, the Commission said it was up to those companies
to judge whether they were happy with the Vista changes by
talking to Microsoft.

"The Commission will keep a close eye on how Vista develops
in the marketplace, and if necessary, if we receive complaints,
we will look into those complaints," Commission spokesman
Jonathan Todd told a regular briefing.

But Microsoft's Ballmer said he believed the announced
changes would satisfy the EU executive.

"We had to digest the feedback (from the Commission) and
take action and understand if we thought that would put us in
compliance with European law, which we think we are," he said.

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