The readytorun zip includes a service exe, it does need 'sc create binpath= ' etc. to be ran as a service.
Conventional wisdom from 10 years ago on HN is that Microsoft Research just pays some top researchers (with commercially interesting, err, interests) to keep doing their thing. I wouldn't distrust anyone from there based on their employer. That is from someone who doesn't trust MSFT very far.
EDIT: Weird that being a program from Microsoft (well, it's Microsoft Research, so that probably explains it?) it has no installer and doesn't run as a service on its own.