Redmind, Washington: Ray Ozzie, the chief software architect at Microsoft Corp., bristles when asked whether people think that new versions of his company's flagship software—such as Windows and Office—are exciting.
“It’s tremendously exciting,” he exclaims defensively, wheeling back from an office table and allowing his hands to flail. “Are you kidding?”
Broader plans: Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer says the US computer giant is the only company prepared and positioned to merge computing from both ends—the desktop and the cloud. Matthias Schrader / AP
But Ozzie and his colleagues at Microsoft recognize, of course, that very little in the technology universe ever stays the same.
“What’s the old movie line from Annie Hall? Relationships are like sharks; they move forward, or they die,” says Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive. “Well, technology companies either move forward, too, or they die. They become less relevant.”
And according to Ozzie, we have entered an age that’s a far cry from that of the PC enshrined on his altar to beige-box antiquity. Consumers and workers have been gripped, he says, by a “gizmo revolution”.
But gizmos are only half the battle for Microsoft.
True, girls obsess over whether a new laptop will fit into their purses and what type of fashion statement the device will make. Corporate road warriors, meanwhile, exude pride as they whip ultra-thin computers with exotic finishes out of their satchels.
Yet the most desirable devices these days are those that also allow information addicts on the move to untether themselves from the desktop PC and communicate through the so-called “cloud”.
With the arrival this week of Windows 7 and a host of complementary, slick computers, Microsoft intends to undermine those Apple Inc. ads that mock PCs and their users as stumbling bores. Ozzie, who plays the role of visionary and strategist at Microsoft, says Windows 7 will let PCs keep pace with other computing devices and, in short, finally make them sexy.
In a bid for its piece of the cloud, Microsoft plans to release a software platform, Windows Azure, next month that represents its offering to lure businesses with online services. While late to cloud computing in spots and a lacklustre participant in the mobile market, Microsoft, Ozzie says, has a shot at reinventing itself and moving beyond the desktop.
Gizmo revolution: A file photo of the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The firm expects that the arrival of Windows 7 this week will let PC users keep pace with other trendy computing devices. Steve Morgain / Bloomberg
“This gives us an opportunity as a software vendor to refresh our value proposition,” he says. “I just think it’s an exciting time for Microsoft.” For many years, Microsoft and its leaders could make sweeping statements like this with little public pushback. Microsoft embodied the technology industry and was the grand arbiter of the tools people used to conduct business and navigate the digital era.