Is Microsoft Infected?

How would you feel if you were selling flu shots that the clinic around the corner was giving away? In a move that is sure to ruffle the feathers on a pair of software companies, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is rolling out free programs to battle spyware and pesky computer viruses.

While the company claims that the antivirus software will simply enhance existing premium products by McAfee (NYSE: MFE) and Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) in order to provide a more pristine computing experience, let's not be naive. That's how the dance starts.

Sure, for every Netscape browser or rival operating system that Microsoft has all but squashed you have cases like RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK), where Mr. Softy has conceded to co-exist. Microsoft isn't always a tyrant. Its Xbox video game console still trails the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation format by a wide margin.

Yet Microsoft knows that if there is a niche worth exploiting, it would be silly not to take advantage of the situation. Antivirus software can be a dream gig if you're established, given the perpetual updates by registered users to keep viral definitions current.

Then again, you can't blame Microsoft if it does ultimately aspire to give away the inoculations gratis. I can't be the only one who feels that the value proposition of virus-battling software is a little cheaper since Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) began offering McAfee's antivirus software for free to AOL subscribers last quarter.

Ultimately, the irony would run thick if Microsoft does manage to make a splash in the antivirus space. Not only is its operating system more susceptible to virtual misdeeds than Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL), but now it finds ways to profit from those deficiencies.

Ouch. That inoculation needle hurts!

Do you think Microsoft will become the leader in antivirus software, or are McAfee and Symantec too established to be unseated so easily? Does Mr. Softy fight fair? All this and more -- in the Microsoft discussion board. Only on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz didn't bother with a flu shot this year. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. He is a member of the Rule Breakers analytical team, seeking out tomorrow's great growth stocks a day early.