Microsoft Tuesday gave security vendors like Symantec and McAfee, who two months ago very publicly complained of being locked out of Vista because of Microsoft's new "you-can't get-to-the-64-bit kernel" PatchGuard widgetry, draft APIs that are supposed to let them access the operating system enough to create products.

Third-party vendors still have access to the 32-bit Vista kernel but eventually - and it could be a long eventually - 64-bit will displace it.

A final version of the interfaces, which are intended to keep the antitrust regulators at bay, is expected with a Vista Service Pack 1 maybe in mid-2007, maybe as far out as 2008. Microsoft will be taking comments on the draft interfaces until the end of January.