Microsoft Corp. needs to step up its security game if it plans to keep its customers happy. The question is: Will it play nice? Bill Gates recently announced the company's plans to sell its own security products last week. Microsoft's antivirus software and free antispyware tools will be available to both consumers and big business by the end of the year. The move is aimed at pleasing the company's increasingly anxious customers.

But what about its allies. The companies who currently provide an extra layer of security for Microsoft products may be edged out. Most welcome healthy competition while some believe a level playing field is impossible with Microsoft as a direct competitor, noting that smaller companies cannot afford to be as generous as the software giant, who plans on giving some of its security tools at no cost.

Microsoft says they are the ones who get the blame when security products breakdown. Customers see it as a fault with Windows or Internet Explorer and do not recognize it as an outsourced software problem.

Microsoft has promised to continue sharing security information and working with other security companies.