Microsoft will post links to rival security software makers in the welcoming screen for Windows Vista, the company has said, another appeasement to a competitor who has raised questions about the developer’s monopolistic position.

One of the changes to the upcoming new operating system, said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, in a question and answer session on Friday, is to the Welcome Center, the first screen that Vista users see after installing the OS or turning on a new PC.

As it stands in Vista Release Candidate 2 (RC2), the Welcome Center includes a link to purchase Microsoft’s own OneCare security software, but doesn’t extend that to third-party vendors. In the final release of Vista, said Smith, the page will also offer a link to “alternative security offerings.” That link, added Smith, will be right next to the one for OneCare.

“I believe that that is the best way to provide computer users with information about security while also promoting broad competition,” said Smith. He said Symantec had raised the issue; it had not been on the EU’s Competition Commission list of features it said should be changed, however.

“Any PC manufacturer can delete [the link] if they desire. In fact, if Symantec or anyone else wants to negotiate an exclusive agreement with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or PC manufacturer to replace both of those links and install, in their place, a link only to their own offering, they are free to do so,” concluded Smith.

In February, the U.S. Department of Justice said that it had received at least one official complaint about Vista’s Welcome Center, but would not identify the company or individual filing the grievance.