Vancouver software developer Faronics is set to capitalize on Microsoft Corp.'s October 26 rollout of the Windows 8 operating system.
The operating system upgrade is hotly anticipated because it has a new so-called "metro" interface that bears no resemblance to past Windows operating systems.
Roughly 75% of Faronics' $22 million in annual revenue comes from sales of its Deep Freeze software, which works with Windows operating systems. Faronics is set to release Deep Freeze for Windows 8 the day of the Windows 8 rollout, October 26.
"We help stabilize Windows," Faronics' Deep Freeze product manager Heman Mehta told Business in Vancouver October 12. "Windows 7, Windows XP, whatever it is, if you Google the term 'Windows rot', that's what we prevent."
Mehta explained that, over time, a Windows operating system gets "fragmented" as users add new applications. The result is that it slows down to a point where the user regularly has to refresh or reset the computer.
Deep Freeze allows users to customize settings and rest assured that when the computer is reset that those settings will be in place instead of default settings, according to Mehta.
Faronics has grown substantially since it was founded in 1996 as a computer manufacturer, importer and wholesaler. By 2001, it had morphed into being a software company that generated $4 million and had 22 employees. A little more than a decade later, and following a major merger in 2003, the company has 112 staff.
