The NAC Nazi says: NO NAC FOR YOU!

In his newly renamed, Security: Network Access Control Newsletter, Tim Greene points out that as part of the Service Pack 3 for Windows XP release (should service pack 3 be capitalized?  Tim did so I followed suit), Microsoft will include a NAP client.  Evidently this client/agent will also work as a 802.1x supplicant.  Tim makes it as if this client for authentication is something new. Not sure he realizes that XP already has a .1x supplicant.  Maybe what he means is that it will work with TCG/TNC gear?  That is what he implies in the next paragraph, except he does not call it TCG, he calls it 802.1x NAC. 

What Tim does make very clear though is that this XP version of the NAP client will not contain the Cisco NAC interoperability feature.  Anyone looking for that (is there really anyone looking for that?) will have to go out and pony up for Vista (OK, don't everyone all get up at once, I know Cisco NAC interoperability is one of the leading reasons to upgrade to Vista).  Of course all of this is moot until and when Server 2008 is finally shipped. You have to hand it to Microsoft though.  How long have we all been hanging on what they are doing in the NAC market instead of concentrating on what can be don now!

In the meantime, anyone who was hoping to get Cisco NAC interoperability with the XP Service Pack 3, NO NAC FOR YOU!