Among information sent to Network World and others, Waller supplied the tech press with purported email from Microsoft personnel on April 11 that appears to acknowledge that there may be some need for a fix to IE9.

One email says: "As you know, the product team has already reviewed this issue and they have confirmed that this was an unintentional regression. A fix request has been submitted. But unfortunately, we don't have definite timeframes around out hotfix processes. I have kept the IE product team posted on the impact this issue has on your software and while they acknowledge it, they have to follow the regular process guidelines and prioritize it appropriately among other requests on their plate." In another email, Microsoft apparently tells StrikeForce: "I understand the impact to you and can certainly understand your frustration."

Microsoft, to whom Network World sent copies of all this, responded by saying, "We care about each of our customers' experiences with IE9. Our engineering team is actively investigating the claim that this third-party toolbar is no longer working in IE9; upon completion of that investigation, any necessary updates will be provided. Windows customers and Internet Explorer users should know there is no impact on their security or browsing experience as a result of this claim."

Waller, clearly distraught, said the StrikeForce software acts as an OEM to Trend Micro in its Titanium product, and other deals are also affected by the company's inability to find a help to the software problem from Microsoft. 

Last week, though, Microsoft was busy with other things, like in other products like SharePoint as part of its regularly scheduled second Tuesday of the month's patchfest.