Windows Vista to hit anti-spyware and firewall markets

Due out early next year, the next major release of Microsoft's flagship operating system promises not only to increase security for consumers, it will also dramatically affect the $3.6 billion market for Windows security products, according to a Yankee Group report scheduled to be published Monday.

"Yankee Group expects Vista to significantly shrink the aftermarket for antispyware and desktop firewalls," analyst Andrew Jaquith wrote in the report. Additionally, Microsoft's first new operating system release in five years may reduce the need for disk encryption, device control and certain types of host intrusion-prevention software, Jaquith wrote.