SWsoft gets Microsoft OS legend on board

VIRTUALISATION software outfit SWsoft has pulled out a plum by hiring former Microsoft legend Mark Zbikowski as a technical advisor.

If you’re a die-hard anti-Volist, you’ll probably think it’s the longest charge sheet in history but if you’re not, Zbikowski has a smoking CV. He was intimately involved in MS-DOS, OS/2, Cairo and Windows NT development, and followed Dollar Bill and Uncle Vista in serving Redmond for a quarter of a century. Zbikowski retired in 2006 to become a lecturer at the University of Washington but has been lured to SWsoft by the familiar scent of a company on the incline.

"The SWsoft culture is reminiscent of Microsoft during its exciting formative years; a young, high-energy company with enormous potential to have significant impact on transforming the way IT is used to help consumers and businesses worldwide," he says on the press release.

SWsoft pulled off another coup by also getting Microsoft’s old OS boss Paul Maritz (remember him?) to come up with a few words.

"Mark has been a key developer and architect over the past 20 years on the entire family of Microsoft operating systems from MS-DOS to Windows NT,” says Maritz. “He has the perspective and experience to be a great asset to any player in the systems software business."

SWsoft also owns Parallels and will shortly change its name to Parallels. µ