Unlike what the security vendors would have you believe, this is *not* a good step for users. Microsoft was attempting to secure the kernel- something that should have been done from the beginning. *nix and MacOS have secure kernels already- and it is on of the reasons that you don't see a proliferation of virii on the system. The vendors became used to the fact that Windows was so open, so used low-level hooks as an easy way to create their software. This should never have happened in the first place! So now Microsoft secures it, and they don't want to create their software correctly! It's like a security guard telling you he has to have the keys to the safe in order to guard the bank. And the better the inbuilt security gets in the OS, the better it is for us- so that we don't have to take the performance hit from these increasingly bloated security suites. Secure the OS, and these security manufacturers that hold us hostage using FUD will have to base their business on something other than the holes in software that we use- *that* will be better for consumers!