Antivirus vendors are not in the least bit concerned about Microsoft Corp."s foray into their space.

Many of them see the attention Microsoft is getting as a good way for them to not only win business but an opportunity to prove why they should gravitate towards a vendor whose core business is in the antivirus, gateway or filtering space.

Trend Micro Inc. global product marketing manager Malav Patel said customers want to deal with a company whose core business is protection. "Most customers we talk to say if you are shopping for a bullet-proof jacket then you go to a company that makes them," Patel said.

"What enterprise customers are looking for is expertise from vendors who know viruses."

Australian product manager Ben Guthrie said the foray will certainly create some benefit from the increased awareness it creates.

"The Microsoft venture is another reinforcing factor that security is a predominant performance issue for users," Guthrie said.

"Our customers and partners will relate to the change - there is certainly some benefit to us from the increased awareness of security."

Jon Kuhn, intrusion and prevention and global product manager for Sonicwall Inc., said Microsoft"s announcement of the release of a beta version of its antispyware venture (January 2005) will attract attention from a large part of the market, which is why a lot of core antivirus vendors are now releasing consumer-orientated software.

Kuhn said the best thing from a user perspective is to not jump ship and automatically use Microsoft security.