iView, the UK-based photo management software company, has been acquired by Microsoft, it has been announced on the companyu2019s website.

iView, the UK-based photo management software company, has been acquired by Microsoft, it has been announced on the company?s website. A statement by Company founder Yan Calotychos, that the takeover is good news for the company and will enable iView to further enhance its product range while strengthening its customer service and support.
Launched in 1999 by Calotychos and his wife as freeware for the Mac platform, successive versions of iView Media and iView Media Pro have received rave reviews in WDC for their simple but effective interface and powerful image cataloging functionality.
Full details of the deal have not yet been made public but it is believed that, in the short term it will be business as usual, with no changes to the product names or range. Little is known about Microsoft?s intentions in the longer term, though in an open letter on the iView website Calotychos assures customers that iView will continue to be a dual platform product.
?The product that was born on the Mac will remain on the Mac as well as on the Windows operating system,? he says.
Industry speculators have suggested that it indicates a future intention by Microsoft to make a serious challenge to Adobe for a slice of the digital photography and image management market, in particular Adobe?s new Lightroom software. However, no-one at Microsoft is giving much away.
To read Yan Calotychos? open letter go to: http://www.iview-multimedia.com/microsoft/