Pulling the Shades

I was reading a security blog today and came across an issue that I have always been on one side of until now. Now (I think) I get Microsoft's manner of operating. It's an issue about access to the Windows kernel (the core of the operating system) and how Microsoft doesn't want to let anyone see it, not even McAfee or Symantec to help protect it. I can somewhat agree with Microsoft now. That post actually had a point. It's just that Microsoft never presented it that way because it would make them look like less of a team player. Note to vendors: they never really cared anyway.

I don't have all the technical or legal expertise to go into this, but one trivial thought helped everything make sense: if the kernel is locked down, why would you need security programs to get inside it to protect it from malware when the malware has become less of a problem by locking down the kernel? Now I'm confused - did that make sense? Is that a derivative of a Catch-22?

If that theory holds true, Windows could become as seemingly secure as the Mac OS just by becoming proprietary (so to speak). It's all relative, though.

I must say, however, that I hate Vista so far, and it has a lot to do with HP.