Weighing in on the Microsoft-Claria issue

There is some pretty heated reaction to both the rumors of Microsoft acquiring Claria, and Microsoft changing it's AntiSpyware product to suggest that users "Ignore" (in other words, "Keep") Claria products instead of "Remove".

I have been reticent to chime in other than my comments about how crazy it would be for Microsoft to think Claria's business model is in any way a tool with which they can catch Google. The reason for my reticence is that I am very cognizant of perspective and any comments I make would be interpreted in light of my being employed by Webroot Software that creates a directly competitive product to Microsoft's AntiSpyware (Beta) program.

So in this case and in most cases relating to competitors I will limit my self to providing links to what I think are the most relevant discussions and reports on whatever issues crop up. In this case I highly recommend Ben Edelman’s comments here and Ed Bott’s comments here.