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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates outlined the software giant's efforts to enhance computer security in its upcoming Windows Vista operating system, including a new indentity security tool code-named "Infocard."

Speaking at a security conference here Tuesday, Mr. Gates said the new operating system would include anti-spyware measures along with a "Security Center" that will monitor a user's activities online, looking for security lapses.

"Security would jump out as the thing we spent the most time on," Mr. Gates said during a keynote address at the RSA Conference.

The new operating system, which some observers expect at the end of September, also will have features to protect a user's identity and to keep threats on the Internet away from the applications and documents people keep on their computers.

Among those features are Info-cards, which let computer users selectively disclose information about themselves to businesses or others online. The software stores personal information such as a user's credit-card number, gender and phone numbers, and lets the user send and receive the information in an encrypted form that can be decoded only by trusted Web sites.

The company several years ago sparked controversy with an earlier service called Passport, which was designed to let consumers use a single password to access multiple Web sites. Unlike Passport, which was opposed by privacy adovcates, the company's new Info-cards are not being stored centrally at Microsoft.

Mr. Gates also suggested that OneCare Live, Microsoft anti-virus service, would become available for commercial release this year. The product is in testing at present.

He said the company has developed internal software tools to catch security problems that crop up during product design, such as memory overruns, which allow hackers to penetrate the defense of a Windows machine. He also said Microsoft has improved its process for distributing "patches" that repair security vulnerabilities in Windows.

However, Mr. Gates said the company needed to become better at bringing simplicity to its products. "The number of screens you have to go through is way too high" when using the software, he said. The company "absolutely" needs to improve, he said.

Destructionator XIII wrote:This might be a case of bad wording, but nothing more. Consider that spyware apps already 'monitor' your activity to block known bad sites.

I really don't think Microsoft would risk destroying their public image by putting blatent spyware / backdoors / malware into the OS.