Microsoft welcomes Cogswell and Russinovich

One of the Blogs I list in those I read is Mark’s Sysinternals Blog.  Mark is one of the co-founders of Winternals Software LP. Winternals is a leading provider of systems recovery and data protection solutions for Microsoft-based enterprises.

Yesterday, it was announced the Austin, Texas based Winternals and Sysinternals have been acquired by Microsoft.  The announcement sent a fury of activity on the Winternals web site as users rushed to download all the free utilities and source code available.

I view this as great news for both the consumer and for developers.  Cogswell and Russinovich have a knowledge of low level Windows functions shared only by a handful of 3rd party developers.  Both gentlemen will be adding their expertise to Windows.  Bryce Cogswell will be joining the Core Operating Systems Division in the role of Software Architect. Mark will be joining the Platforms and Services Division (PSD) in the role of Technical Fellow.  Being named a Technical Fellow is a huge honor with only 14 other such fellows at this time.

“The title of Technical Fellow is awarded to someone whose technical vision, expertise, and world-class leadership is widely recognized. These individuals are instrumental in developing and driving technical strategies for the customer, the company, and the industry.”

I can only hope that both will have some impact on Windows Vista before it’s released.  They could both help to increase the internal security of Windows. At the same time, I expect they’ll be respectful of developers and our need to access many low level functions. I would gladly wait another quarter for Vista knowing that Cogswell and Russinovich will be doing some kind of code review. 

Good Luck Bryce and Mark, we’re counting on you guys!