Close

News

Microsoft Acquires Winternals, Sysinternals

Microsoft announced this week it has acquired Winternals Software LP, a well-known vendor of enterprise systems recovery and data protection solutions for Windows, along with the company's associated freeware site Sysinternals.

The 10-year-old Austin, Texas firm brings to Microsoft products such as Winternals Administrator's Pak, Protection Manager, Defrag Manager and Recovery Manager. It also brings dozens of Sysinternals tools, including Filemon, Regmon and Process Explorer, which are used by "millions of people" for troubleshooting and management, according to statements on Sysinternals' Web site.

High on the list of the company's assets are the firm's two founders -- Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell -- who will become Microsoft employees.

Russinovich will become a technical fellow in Microsoft's Platforms and Services Division. Cogswell will join as a software architect within the Window Component Platform Team. They had been chief software architect and chief technology officer, respectively, at Winternals. The pair are nearly legendary in status within the operating system design world, thanks to the popularity of their tools.

Russinovich holds a B.S. and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University as well as an M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, all in computer engineering. He previously worked for IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center.

Cogswell also received both his master's degree and his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon, and has a B.S. degree in computer science from the University of California. He is a kernel-level programmer specializing in interfacing software with hardware, according to his biography on Winternals' Web site.

Russinovich's name came into the public eye most recently last October when he discovered and blew the whistle on Sony BMG's use of "rootkit" digital rights management technology on some audio CDs, a controversy that still simmers.

But what does the acquisition mean to existing customers?

"Microsoft will continue to meet all Winternals customer support agreements through their terms. All Winternals customers are Microsoft customers and it is our aim to provide more value to you in the end as part of Microsoft," read an FAQ regarding the acquisition on Winternals Web site.

However, that does not mean that the current roster of products will remain available for sale -- at least in their current form. "We are looking to integrate the technologies and talent into Microsoft. Microsoft is currently finalizing plans on how these products and technologies can be best integrated with existing Microsoft technologies to maximize future customer value," the FAQ continued.

Winternals Software is a privately owned company. Further details of the deal were not disclosed.

About the Author

Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.

Reader Comments:

Thu, May 1, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous

anyway diploma maniacs squalls?Faraday Mohammedanize Irma Pisa!

Mon, Jul 24, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous

Wow! I can't imagine how angry so many of you are over this. Let's put aside our differences and wish these two guys the best.

Thu, Jul 20, 2006 Troy Maryland

How many people get upset when something that they were given for free is now changing. People should be forever thankful to Mark and Bryce for their contributions to the industry and our success. Now that they are having some success, I congratulate them and trust that their influence will continue to help the community as a whole. Did any of your consider the possibility that by working with Microsoft there could be even larger oppertunities to proactivly fix problems for all of us.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous

Funny how religion bashing is considered "OK" by some people, but bashing a political group is not. Anyway, this is not the appropriate place for political statements or snide remarks about religion.

MS has a ton of products that already make them billions. They can afford to give away all the Winternals tools if they really want to. Seriously, how much will Winternals actually add to their bottom line? I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't eventually give all the tools away for free. That's what they did with Services for Unix -- bought it for millions, sold it for a while, then gave the (improved) upgrade away for free.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Stan Sorensen California

Maybe Dan shouldn't have tied in politics, and I admit that his entry in this blog should have been less 'strong', but it doesn't make you (Anonymous) a better person by resorting to the same tactics. Sometimes silence is the best answer.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Stan Sorensen California

Dear Anonymous, It's not funny how you have to tie in Religion/Faith in the same breath that you resort to a demeaning response. I, for one, am quite insulted in what you have posted.
(And no, I am not the Stan Sorensen who works for Microsoft, I work for a telecommunications firm.)

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous

Funny how Dan has to tie in politics. You sound like a conservative Dan, so why not just pray to Jesus? He will deliver all your IT tools for free. Thanks for such an asinine contribution to the thread.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous

What concerns me more than just the tools and their future, is that Mark always was one of the counter balances in the industry that showed us what was really going on inside NT. I also share the concern about what may happen to the tools, free or ohterwise, since these tools allow you to do things not possible or not easily done in NT. These tools also allow you to peer into the internals (no pun intended) of NT to keep MS honest. I routinely use them when a patch is applied to NT to see what is going on and used it to track what WGA was doing. Now that Mark will work for MS, it is difficult to see how he can remain objective. Like some have posted, let's not jump to conclusions. But I am going to be watching the tools carefully to see if anything changes that's for sure.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Ghost Rider US - Fl

Well, a couple of years ago I would have thought that MS bought the company just to make more money but lately they have been pretty good even giving away Virtual PC for free + other admin tools that are for free ( my favorite gpmc). I am testing all the new products and I think they are going in the right direction. I still have my Linux box to test security but other than that my XP box is my main work horse.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Dan NJ

The IT guys who hate Microsoft remind me of all of the liberals who hate America. Most of their arguments are emotional and illogical, and the object of their hatred is the very thing that got them where they are today!

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Max New York

Winternals pple were known to achieve what MS pple said were impossible (NTFS-DOS). Another thing about them is that all their tools worked as advertized. Just like MS stuff, right?
Now one might wonder what would happen if you add a drop of honey in a bucket of sh!t, but I guess we know the answer. Brace yourself...

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Timothy Anonymous

Man you people are paranoid. Microsoft already has a huge bundle of free administrative tools for all their OS's... From the "rolled up" Administrative Pack, Support Tools, and Power Tools, to individual tools like MBSA, LogParser, and so on. To think they'll just nuke the free Sysinternals tools is really quite silly. They will probably just keep it as it is for a while to come, and in the future MAYBE will integrate some of the products directly into the Support Tools pack and so on. The only changes are going to be the commercial Winternals tools. From the sound of it, those are going to be rolled into other management platforms.

Show me one example of where Microsoft historically killed off a free administrative tool for their products.

And if you are going to get angry about the buy-out, blame the Winternals folks. They didn't have to sell.

But I digress. I think this will be great. The Winternals team does EXCELLENT work and will be a very valuable asset to Microsoft and future management products. And considering how many KB articles tell you to go to sysinternals site and download free tools, you'll be seeing sysinternals freeware for many, many, many years to come.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous

Incorporation into new products is fine, but people will be living with XP for a long time to come. Kill off the free tools and its just another reason to be forced to upgrade. MS always acts in their own interest.

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Hunter Atlanta

I hope for the best, and more than likely we will see 'most' of their tools incorporated into a future version of Windows; however, given MS past 'acquisitions', I agree more with Stew's assessment. MS is more about $$ than true innovation, but hey, we live in a capitalist world!

Wed, Jul 19, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous

I tend to agree with Allan. Although I am keen to hear what lays in store for the (free) tools, let not assume the worst. Maybe they'll start shipping with Windows. I doutbt it but, who knows.

Good luck to Mark and Bryce.

Tue, Jul 18, 2006 Allan New York, NY

Stew must've read (interpreted) something that wasn't there (facts) in the article. Even though I am also curious about what will happen to the free tools, to jump to such a conclusion as Stew has seems premature.

Tue, Jul 18, 2006 Stew Baby Anonymous

What about the free versions of the tools? Sounds like Ms-type 'innovation' at work 'embrace(buy), extend (incorporate into $$ products, extinguish)

Add Your Comment Now:

Your Name:(optional)
Your Email:(optional)
Your Location:(optional)
Comment:
Please type the letters/numbers you see above