Microsoft drops the ball, and not only do you have to pick it up yourself, but you might have to pay for it as well! According to several sources, Microsoft will drop its own Spyware and Anti-Virus software, possibly as soon as this week. There are even rumors that point to Microsoft bundling them both together as a subscription service code-named “A-1″.

Sounds good right? Sounds like steps of improvement for Microsoft right? Maybe. But what it really sounds like to me is yet another screw job perpetrated by the executives at Redmond that must walk funny because their balls are so big.

Microsoft focused on market share and beating competitors to the store shelves and in the process created an operating system that has gaping holes that allow virii and every type of spyware into your system by just simply opening a website or even doing nothing other than going on the internet. Thats one problem. But now it seems to be getting worse. Because with the buy-outs of spyware and anti-virus software makers, Microsoft could atone for these serious issues and give this software out. Hell, put it on Windows Update, if they so choose…but instead they are apparently readying a commercial release for a problem they, in a way, created to begin with!

Now, I realize that Microsoft is not out there making these virii that are attacking their customer base. But what I mean by “creating the problem” of virii and spyware attacks on their operating system is that they did not do enough to prevent it. No operating system can be perfect, but Windows, even XP, the best version of Windows thus far, is far from it. This is evident from the amazing amount of infections the world saw this year and by other reports, such as the recently reported 45 seconds it took for a Windows computer took to be infected by just being connected to the internet. However, by contrast, OS X (made by Apple) and any version of Linux were clean and un-infected while being attached to the same network. And yes, I realize that there are more virii being created for Windows because they are the biggest, but that is beside the point. Despite the number of virii in the wild, Windows is not even close to being as secure as Linux and OS X, and, in reality is barely secure enough to even run in this day and age of countless spyware. There is no reason anyone should have to run 2 or 3 other programs to keep your computer from becoming so slow and bloated by things you didn’t install, just to keep it in a workable state.

But yet here is Microsoft, trying to look better in the public’s eyes by offering Anti-virus and Spyware software in the new year. But by putting a price next to their offering, they are just adding insult to injury and sticking it to the customer one more time.