Microsoft has responded to charges that the company is giving favored treatment to spyware-maker Claria, which the company is said to be interested in purchasing. The charges stem from changes made to Microsoft's AntiSpyware product, which previously flagged Claria's products for deletion, and now gives them a pass (though it still gives users the option to delete them). According to Microsoft, the change is simply part of efforts to be "fair and consistent with how Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) handles similar software from other vendors." The company also admitted that while Claria had asked Microsoft to reconsider its classification of the spyware-vendor's products, "absolutely no exceptions were made for Claria."