WinPatrol: Changing of the Guard

The first release of WinPatrol was made public on November 19, 1997.  Since that first release, WinPatrol has developed a huge user base of people who depend on "Scotty, the Windows Watchdog" to alert them to changes to their computer. 

As many devoted WinPatrol fans know, the past few years have presented some difficult challenges for the Pytlovany family.  As a result, Bill made the tough decision to seek a new owner of WinPatrol.

The primary prerequisite for a new owner of WinPatrol was that the person have the same high ethical standards as Bill, someone who strongly believes in conducting security business the right way.  That prerequisite has been met by Bret Lowry.

Introducing Bret Lowry

Bret has been a software developer for almost 30 years and has worked in the security sector since 2005.

Bret has extensive experience within both Fortune 500 and start-up environments and was directly responsible for 5 major commercial software releases, as well as, numerous point releases of high-volume, distributed software.

As architect/lead at the former Sunbelt Software Bret was responsible for the shipment of many major and minor releases to VIPRE, as well as worked on many of the back-end systems.

Ethics

Bret's long history working with Alex Eckelberry at Sunbelt Software would be solid proof to me of his integrity.  Substantiation supporting my confidence that Bret will carry on the development of WinPatrol with the same high standards as Bill is evident from the introductory email I received from Bret, which he gave me permission to quote:

"Why did I purchase WinPatrol? I really enjoyed working in the security sector, protecting people and their computers from the bad guys. Purchasing WinPatrol was the perfect opportunity for me to start my own business by obtaining an established product that conducted security business the right way. No pop-ups, no add-ins, no toolbars, none of the stuff programs put in simply as a way of trying to drive revenue w/o adding value to their customers. I won’t do that. Bill has run WinPatrol with integrity for 16+ years now, I will continue that tradition."

Transition

To ensure a smooth transition of WinPatrol, Bill Pytlovany will continue working with Bret through the end of the year.  The soon to be released WinPatrol update (Ruiware) includes changes that Bret has been working on.  I understand from Bret that he has improvements to features that I have no doubt other WinPatrol users will appreciate.

I am pleased to add that Bret provided his approval for the continuation of the unofficial support site, WinPatrol Help & Information, at LandzDown Forum (LzD).  When the dust settles, Bret assures me that he will be registering at LandzDown post announcement.  There are a number of long-time WinPatrol supporters at LzD available to help answer questions and help with WinPatrol features.

Thank you, Bill

On a personal note, I have long respected Bill Pytlovany and, because of his honesty and high ethical standards, held him in high esteem.  I know I won't be losing contact with him but still wish to take this opportunity to publicly thank Bill for providing an excellent product.

Additional information is available from Bill at WinPatrol™ Generation II.

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