Had to do some Googling to figure out what products GIANT were behind. Answer: Spam Inspector, Giant AntiSpyware products and Popup Inspector. This isn’t condemnation of any kind (because there’s lots and lots of good products/services out there that I haven’t heard of) but I’ve never heard of or know anybody that has used any of these products, anybody else?

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 16, 2004 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has acquired GIANT Company Software Inc., a provider of top-rated anti-spyware and Internet security products. Microsoft will use intellectual property and technology assets from the acquisition to provide Microsoft® Windows® customers with new tools to help protect them from the threat of spyware and other deceptive software. In addition, key personnel from GIANT Company will be joining Microsoft’s security efforts.

Obviously Microsoft saw something giant in value here. Meanwhile, just look at all the Microsoft activity in 2004! It’s been a busy year for the big M, points out Jay Fluegel, Lead PM MSN Spaces:

Music - launch of the download service, a version for Media Center PC, seamless integration with Windows Media Player 10, the PlaysForSure logo program…
Spaces – MSN’s v1 blogging & digital scrapbook offering with a great end-to-end experience with Messenger, Hotmail, Web Messenger, and the Toolbar
Messenger – 2 new versions (6.2 and the recent 7.0 beta), continued to give users fun tools for keeping in touch with friends, family, and co-workers, and expressing themselves online in interesting ways
Hotmail – free 250 MB inboxes and up to 2 GB, major advancements in spam filtering technology, richer photo attachment experience…
Search beta — our home-grown effort to dramatically improve the relevance of our search results and the overall user experience for finding answers
Toolbar Suite — enough said above

Here’s my quick rundown on these products/changes: Hotmail: last time I looked (and admittedly it’s been a little while) there was wayyyy too much advertising (tone it down, please if you haven’t already done so – less would be more effective). Music: good to see them enter the space and love the exclusive deal with AC DC! Messenger: haven’t worked with this enough yet. Search beta: I’ve give feedback on some of our sites and have been happy to see positive changes; that’s exciting! I spoke to the guy who is fielding questions from MSN search beta last night at the Seattle blogger meetup; it’s really cool to see the accessibility of these folks! Toolbar Suite: jury still out on this one, though I really like the keyword numbering function. Spaces: More customization options needed for more power bloggers and some irritating issues with login/logout but I’m liking what I’m seeing as a beta here.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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• MSN Toolbar beta released
• MSN Toolbar Suite Beta quick thoughts
• MSN Messenger 7 released and MSN Spaces adds Volvo ads
• Microsoft OneCare is coming
• No cookie love for I Love Messenger
• Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)