In an interview with Computerworld earlier this week, Stephen Toulouse, senior product manager in Microsoft's security technology unit, said that the company was "accelerating its decision" regarding extensions to the Vista kernel.

"What we are doing right now is sitting down with vendors and getting specifications" for kernel-related APIs. Toulouse said. The APIs will allow vendors to deliver the same kind of security functions they have been delivering, while still preventing kernel modifications, he said. Such APIs will be developed in "combination with" independent software vendors over the next several months, with the first set of APIs likely to be available with Service Pack 1 for Vista, he said.

But so far at least, none of those discussions has involved APIs related to PatchGuard, said George Heron, chief scientist at McAfee. Contrary to what Microsoft has said publicly, "we haven't received any information at all regarding PatchGuard," Heron said. "We have no idea what APIs they are speaking of with respect to PatchGuard," nor has there been any official notice on when they might become available, he said.

With Vista scheduled to start shipping sometime later this year, "it is not really fair for Microsoft to wait until the eleventh hour" to release APIs, because vendors need time to modify their products, Heron said.

Rowan Trollope, vice president of consumer engineering at Symantec, also said that the company has received no details on APIs related to PatchGuard. And even if such APIs eventually become available from Microsoft, they will address only a part of the problem, Trollope said.