The Once and Future Scum-Busting Giant

It’s a bleak day for scumware manufacturers, and a great day for the rest of us.

Microsoft just bought GIANT Company Software Inc., purveyor of GIANT AntiSpyware, a highly regarded program that uses consumer consensus to help identify scumware. What? You’ve never used GIANT AntiSpyware? Take a look at this review. It’s impressive.

The ‘Softies picked up everything – GIANT’s products (which include a popup blocker), assets, employees, and the coffee machine. No word yet on how Microsoft will use the acquisition, but Paul Thurrott is reporting that there will be a beta of a bigger and better GIANT within 30 days. In the meantime, the GIANT company web site is out to lunch.

New source: Microsoft Presspass

Office 12 in May, 2006?

Paul Thurrott claims that he’s seen Microsoft’s recent internal delivery schedules, and that Office 12 is currently slated to ship on May 22, 2006. Paul usually has the inside scoop on these things.

Remember, it’s an internal schedule. Still… interesting, eh?

News source: Paul Thurrott in WinNetMag, er, Windows IT Pro.

UPDATE: Mary Jo Foley has identical dates in her Microsoft Watch Newsletter, along with more speculation about the server-based nature of Office 12 improvements (see news item below).

COINCIDENTALLY: both Paul and Mary Jo claim to have published the same “inside” information on the same day – October 21. I’m always skeptical of such coincidences. Not because Paul or Mary Jo might be singing from each others’ hymnals (they’re both consummate professionals with enormous integrity), but because coincidences like that are rare to the point of being… suspicious.

When more than one industry observer gets the same inside scoop on the same day, there’s something fishy in Denmark (if you Danes will pardon the old English phrase). This one reeks of Microsoft Marketing working behind the scenes, carefully feeding “inside” information to key journalists through third parties. The Mouseketeers… er, Marketeers usually do that when they want to make an announcement, without making any commitments. Very Orwellian.

New Microsoft ClearType Tuner PowerToy

Microsoft just released a new PowerToy specifically designed to help you tune ClearType, the sub-pixel font rendering technology built into Windows XP.

Aside from an “Advanced” tab that lets you adjust the contrast manually, and the fact that the new PowerToy installs itself in the Windows Control Panel, this PowerToy is virtually identical to the
Web-based tuner that Microsoft has had for many, many years.

(If you try to run the Web-based tuner, be advised that the latest version of IE 6 blocks the download of a key ActiveX control. You have to download and install the control separately.)

I still prefer ClearTweak, a free program from ioIsland, which I talk about in all of my Windows books.

Download: Microsoft ClearType Tuner PowerToy

Did Microsoft (gasp) Lie?

My good, old friend Robert Cringely (well, at least he’s good and old) has posted a fascinating story on the PBS site about Microsoft’s travails in the Burst v. Microsoft trial. It seems that Judge Motz has just released a handful of damning documents that are well worth your time.

Quoth the Cringe: “Burst says that Microsoft ignores, forgets, dissembles, and if nothing else works, it just plain lies. Of course, only a jury can decide guilt or innocence, but the evidence appears strong. I wonder how those 17 state attorneys-general feel about this, having settled the case for little or no money, only to be now told there is a good possibility that Microsoft lied to them and took actions that could only have resulted in the destruction of evidence? I wonder how Sun and AOL, and Be feel about it? Could they have gotten better deals from Microsoft? And what happens if this all goes to a jury and Burst is upheld? Better put a hold on that $30 billion special dividend because those old settlements might be subject to renegotiation.”

News source: I, Cringely (er, He Cringely)