Jeff Erwin, a former Microsoft general manager and Seattle area startup veteran, has been tapped as CEO of Mac security and antivirus firm Intego, GeekWire has learned. Intego has operations in Paris and Austin, but Erwin will remain in Seattle where he plans to build out the company’s finance and marketing operations. It might be peculiar to see a former Microsoft manager moving into the world of Apple products.

But Erwin, who previously served as Microsoft’s director of wireless incubation and GM of the software giant’s Visio Enterprise line, does have some solid experience working on security products for Macs.

After his stint at Microsoft, Erwin was named CEO of Pure Networks, a company that developed security products for both Macs and PCs.  Given that experience, Erwin said that returning to the Mac consumer software space “feels very comfortable.”

Pure Networks sold to Cisco Systems for $120 million in 2008, a nice payday for Ignition Partners, Mayfield  and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Erwin was credited with helping to reposition the startup, a transition which won him the support of the company’s venture capital backers. That led to a stronger connection with Bessemer — which owns a majority interest in the Intego family of companies and introduced Erwin to the new job.

The former Visio exec said he sees big things ahead for Intego, a 14-year-old company whose products include VirusBarrier X6 and Washing Machine.

“…What Intego needs falls into the value I can bring, a company with strong people, strong technology but lacking strategy and leadership,” Erwin tells GeekWire. “In that regard it is similar to the problem space I took on at Pure Networks.”

The company employs 35, and Erwin said that it is too early to say how many people he’ll bring on locally. “I’ll be setting up an office when there is more than just me in Seattle,” he says.

As part of the new gig, Erwin plans to spend one week per month at the Intego offices in Paris. He’s currently practicing his French, and while the Seattle to Paris commute may be a little rough he notes that there are “worse places to have to go.”

John Cook is co-founder of GeekWire, a tech news site in Seattle. Follow on Twitter @geekwirenews.

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