DesktopStandard acquired by Microsoft
For those of you who know DesktopStandard--the Group Policy extension folks that I've been working with for the past 6 months, you'll be interested to know that they have been acquired by Microsoft, announced today here: http://www.desktopstandard.com/PressReleases/02Oct2006.aspx.
The cool part about this is that some of the really smart folks at DesktopStandard will be going to MS to help improve Group Policy in the future. This is great news for all of us who use GP! They have truly been one of the innovators in GP for the last few years.
And, in case you're wondering, no, I'm not going to MS :-). As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm starting my own software company, SDM Software, focused on, what else, Group Policy tools!
Another cool part of this announcement is that the product formerly known as DesktopStandard PolicyMaker for Application Security is being spun out into a new, separate company, called BeyondTrust. PolicyMaker for Application Security is a cool GP extension that allows you to run a Least-Privileged User environment using Group Policy to control what processes can be elevated. This product provides capabilities in Windows that the UAC feature in Vista *should*, but won't provide.
Anyway, exciting times all around. Best of luck to all the DesktopStandard folks. Its been a pleasure working with them.