RSSMicrosoft Acquires App Transfer Firm
By Ed Oswald | Published March 7, 2006, 2:28 PM
Microsoft said Tuesday that it had purchased Apptimum, maker of software that assists in transferring applications to new computers. Technology acquired through the deal would be incorporated into Windows Vista through an optional software download.
The Redmond company said its customers had been requesting easier ways to transfer files and applications to new computers. The experience had already been upgraded in Windows Vista, and Microsoft says the Apptimum technology would improve that further.
"Microsoft's acquisition of Apptimum will dramatically extend the reach of our solutions to millions of Windows customers around the world," co-founder of Apptimum and CTO David Hendrickson said.
While applications based on the technology would not be included in Vista by default, they would be provided as add-ons to the new operating system. Microsoft was not immediately providing additional details on the product or when they expected it to be available.
Hendrickson simply said that, "Windows customers will enjoy a significantly simplified computer setup process, and the innovative technology that Apptimum has built will contribute to a better overall experience."
Terms of the acquisition remained private.
MS seems to have some items on their weekly shopping list...
http://www.betanews.com/...shes_Toolbar/1141831711
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|Apparently, even Microsoft admits now that the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" sucks...
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|Awesome!
You know...recently I tried to network an XP Sp1a computer. I went back to Windows 2000.
Kill the wizards!
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|Hmmmm, I did the same but went up to Windows XP SP2 instead.
Kill the old fashion way of doing!
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|Microsoft has always had a hard time maintaining utilities which require "content" of some sort. In the case of the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (as well as its corporate version, the User State Migration Tool), the software itself was good but relied upon profile data which defines how to migrate the settings for many 3rd-party products. FAST and USMT shipped with this data covering common apps at the time, but Microsoft rarely updated it. The fact that FAST can migrate Photoshop 3.0 is pretty useless for the average Photoshop user today.
Relatively few people remember that MS-DOS 6.x came with an antivirus scanner licensed from Central Point (later acquired by Symantec). Only a single update was ever provided, so the utility was doomed to fail. In Microsoft's current antimalware strategy, Microsoft completely acquired the companies which made Sybari Antivirus and GIANT AntiSpyware, instead of merely licensing their software. So far, it seems that this approach has allowed Microsoft to stay on top of content updates. Therefore, acquiring Apptimum may indeed prove to be the remedy for FAST.
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|Seems to me that the story says " maker of software that assists in transferring applications to new computers." Notice the word APPLICATIONS which is distinctly different than files and settings.
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|"Apparently, even Microsoft admits now that the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" sucks..."
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Where did they say that? They did say that customers were requesting an easier way to make transfers and that it would be an optional download for Vista users, but no where did they admit that the current method "sucks" as you say.
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