When Microsoft outlined the security initiatives found in the upcoming Windows XP Service Pack 2, some security vendors grumbled behind the scenes, but McAfee remained unfazed. In fact, the duo may now have settled into a cozier partnership than ever before.

Not only should the upcoming edition of McAfee's SecurityCenter console be compliant with Windows Security Center, it will actively monitor the status of Windows Update automatic updates.

Although Microsoft has farmed out other hosted services to third parties, it has maintained tight control over Windows Update - a core feature of the Windows operating system. Despite its best efforts to fine tune Windows Update to be its primary vehicle to effectively distribute updates to customers, Microsoft's quandary has been that it cannot ensure the compliance of end users.

Un-patched systems are left vulnerable to worms and other exploits that tarnish the reputation of Microsoft and place the security and privacy of Windows users at risk. The infamous Blaster Worm (W32.Blaster.A and its variants) exploited a flaw in Microsoft's Remote Procedure Call (RPC) function that was addressed by a security update released July of 2003.

By mid-August, hundreds of thousands of users who failed to upgrade were struck by Blaster, and Microsoft braced for the worst.

To fend off future incidents like Blaster, Microsoft designed Windows XP Service Pack 2 with an emphasis on security. Upon the initial reboot after installation has completed, users will be presented with a dialog encouraging them to enable automatic updating.

To add another layer of certainty that users will comply, Windows Security Center will continue to monitor the status of this feature and will notify users when updating has been disabled. However, users can still chose not to heed Microsoft's warnings, which is where vendors can assist Microsoft its campaign.

At first glance, users will also notice that McAfee's software sports a console interface similar in appearance to Windows Security Center. McAfee's intention with SecurityCenter is to provide users with quick access to security applications with one major change: SecurityCenter will now monitor the status of Windows Update and inform users when updates are available.

While there is no specific API to monitor the status of automatic updates, Microsoft has published a knowledge base article with a set of instructions on how to set the feature through the registry.

When asked for his perspective on McAfee's decision to make Windows Update a high value item in SecurityCenter, Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, told BetaNews, "I only see positives in this announcement: it will help end-users keep up to date with the latest security patches, which can be a daunting task."

"This seems like a pretty simple function that other antivirus vendors could build in to their products as well," said Rosoff.