Windows Vista to protect users against themselves

Executives pointed to Microsoft's SDL (Security Development Lifecycle) program as an attempt to root out many of the coding flaws that have left gaping security holes in previous versions of Windows during development, and said the primary thrust of the security tools added in Vista has been to help customers help themselves.

From its UAC (User Account Control) feature, which is meant to limit the ability of viruses to gain access to administrator status on desktops, to the anti-phishing filters built into the newly released Internet Explorer 7 browser, Microsoft has attempted to give users the mechanisms they need to do a better job of watching their own backs, said Ben Fathi, the Redmond, Wash., company's vice president for the Windows core operating system.

Microsoft doesn't expect that Vista will be tight enough to evade all forms of malware, despite all the work done to shut holes via the SDL program, Fathi said, but it does believe it has given users the right set of warnings and tools to help better police their own habits.