Reprogramming Microsoft for Round 2

Iria · Dec 12, 2005, 01:37 AM

REDMOND, Washington - As it did in 1995 when Netscape stole the Internet spotlight, Microsoft once more finds itself surrounded by doubt and dismissed as a laggard. Some of the software company's own senior engineers have defected to Google and elsewhere, and its stock price has barely budged in three years, despite solid earnings growth, because others appear to be winning the race for the future.

The familiar pattern of a decade ago prompts the question that Bill Gates was asked when he met last month with a group of executives and journalists from The New York Times: Will you do to Google what you did to Netscape?

Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and chairman, paused, looked down at his folded hands and smiled broadly, as if enjoying a private joke. "Nah," he replied, "we'll do something different."

The man whom Gates is counting on to make a difference is Ray Ozzie, a soft-spoken 50-year-old who joined the company just eight months ago. He has the daunting task of galvanizing the troops to address the Internet services challenge, shaking things up and quickening the corporate pulse.

The forces arrayed against Microsoft, analysts say, may well prove more formidable than ever.

"The problem Microsoft faces today is that there is a totally different model emerging for how software is created, distributed, used and paid for," said George Colony, the chairman of Forrester Research, a technology consultant. "That's why it's going to be so difficult for Microsoft this time."
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Read More / Source: International Herald Tribune

Dec 12, 2005, 01:37 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Reprogramming Microsoft for Round 2 REDMOND, Washington - As it did in 1995 when Netscape stole the Internet spotlight, Microsoft once more finds itself surrounded by doubt and dismissed as a laggard. Some of the software company's own senior engineers have defected to Google and elsewhere, and its stock price has barely budged in three years, despite solid earnings growth, because others appear to be winning the race for the future. The familiar pattern of a decade ago prompts the question that Bill Gates was asked when he met last month with a group of executives and journalists from The New York Times: Will you do to Google what you did to Netscape? Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and chairman, paused, looked down at his folded hands and smiled broadly, as if enjoying a private joke. "Nah," he replied, "we'll do something different." The man whom Gates is counting on to make a difference is Ray Ozzie, a soft-spoken 50-year-old who joined the company just eight months ago. He has the daunting task of galvanizing the troops to address the Internet services challenge, shaking things up and quickening the corporate pulse. The forces arrayed against Microsoft, analysts say, may well prove more formidable than ever. "The problem Microsoft faces today is that there is a totally different model emerging for how software is created, distributed, used and paid for," said George Colony, the chairman of Forrester Research, a technology consultant. "That's why it's going to be so difficult for Microsoft this time." ___________ Read More / Source: International Herald Tribune