Microsoft Corp."s release last week of two security tools designed to help users get rid of spyware and other malicious code is a long overdue move from a company whose software is the biggest target of viruses and other attacks, IT managers and analysts said.

The release of the tools also puts Microsoft one step closer to directly competing with pure-play vendors of security software, they added.

Microsoft made available a free beta version of Windows AntiSpyware, which is based on technology acquired through its purchase of New York-based Giant Company Software Inc. last month. In addition, Microsoft is offering a tool for removing worms, viruses and other malicious code from PCs. That product is built around technology the company inherited when it acquired Romanian antivirus software developer GeCAD Software SRL in June 2003.

The release of the Windows AntiSpyware beta should help give IT security managers "more pull" with upper management when they seek funds for spyware protection tools, said Jarrad Winter, network security manager at Western United Insurance Co. in Irvine, Calif. "Now that Microsoft is publicly making it known that this is a problem, spyware will no longer be a throw-it-in-the-corner type of (issue)," he said.

Microsoft"s move "really demonstrates how big of a problem spyware has become," noted Andrew Plato, president of Anitian Enterprise Security, a systems integration and consulting firm in Beaverton, Ore.

And it"s about time that Microsoft recognized the extent of the problems posed by spyware, said Russ Cooper, editor of the NTBugTraq newslist and an analyst at TruSecure Corp. in Herndon, Va.

"It"s taken a long time for Microsoft to acknowledge that what"s been happening to PCs in terms of Trojans and spyware is a result of mechanisms built into Internet Explorer," Cooper said, adding that the vendor needs to balance the addition of more functionality with security needs.

Windows AntiSpyware is designed to help users detect and block spyware and remove it from infected systems, said Amy Carroll, director of Microsoft"s security business and technology unit. She said Microsoft hasn"t decided whether it will continue to make the tool available for free download or will eventually charge users for it. But there will be at least one more beta version before the software is formally released, she added.

The GeCAD-based tool consolidates a series of malicious-software-removal utilities that Microsoft has shipped since last January, each targeting a single virus or worm. In the future, Microsoft will update the as-yet-unnamed product with new virus signatures as part of its monthly release of software patches, Carroll said.

The new releases build on Microsoft"s efforts to integrate more security tools with its products. But for now, at least, there"s nothing about Microsoft"s offerings that should get security vendors such as Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. "up in arms," said Pete Lindstrom, an analyst at Spire Security LLC in Malvern, Pa.