Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

Leon Zandman — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:11:17 GMT

Yeah, I just read the news on Digg.com. Amazing Microsoft didn't acquire them sooner. I always found it kinda funny that one of the leading Windows experts wasn't working for Microsoft.

I hope their tools remain freely available and will be actively maintained. Maybe they could replace the Windows task manager with Process Explorer :-)

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

AJ — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:15:52 GMT

Their tools have been invaluable to me. I hope they stay free; I am a tightwad.

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

me — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 04:03:07 GMT

imagine the day when Rob resumes his lecture sessions on the why's and how's of the windows installer like in the early days of his blog...

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

Cronan — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 11:38:52 GMT

Great tools, used them for years, just debugged and resolved another nasty issue using filemon yesterday ... these tools need to stay separate and tightly-focussed - be nice to see them as VS addins next release ...

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

ringi — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 14:53:16 GMT

I don’t like this, if they find something like the Sony root kit next year will they be able to tell us about it? Or will Sony just shut them up by saying it is Microsoft being anticompetitive?

The fact that Microsoft is now buying out all the best independent people (just look at what they did to DevelopMentor) means that is now a lot less trusted 3rd party sources for information on Windows C# etc.

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

AJ — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 20:39:50 GMT

In response to ringi:
I know quite a few people who work for Microsoft that tell me, and I am sure Rob will attest to this, that Microsoft encourages open communication and honesty. The MSDN blogs are a testament to that fact as well. There have been some pretty scathing remarks from some of the authors and Microsoft lets them stand unedited. I am sure Mark and Bryce will continue to provide us with the great, insightful information that they always have. I don't think Microsoft wants to be the evil empire that tell Mark and Bryce what and where to write. On the contrary, I just think they want to attach their name to one of the most popular and widely used toolsets for developers and System Administrators. My earlier remark was more sarcasm than anything else, but if they begin to charge for the toolsets, I will pay for them. Like I said, they have been invaluable to me. Microsoft would have to put a HEFTY tag on them to make it not worth it to me.

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

tchurch — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:33:09 GMT

These were very useful tools, but I think under microsoft they will cripple the tools and usefulness of them. Expect bulky addons and code bloat as the MS programmers try to "enhance" them and a loss of functionality to "comply" with the Windows do it all mentality. Nothing will remain "free" under microsoft.

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

Owen — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:49:42 GMT

I do hope they continue to stay "tight" and "free"!

their tools are invaluable for the install and integration specialist.

re: Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

Richard Berg — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:33:47 GMT

tchurch, can you name an example of bloat in Microsoft’s other low-level development tools? Which features from windbg should be cut in your opinion? In what way is cl.exe no longer free? What makes Verifier bulky? Please be specific.