Windows operations reshuffled after Vista delay blow
The management restructuring of Microsoft’s flagship operating system was aimed at boosting its agility in the face of increasingly intense competition from online rivals Yahoo and Google which could benefit from the two-month delay of the long-awaited Vista, which will now be rolled out in January.
"As we launch new Windows Live services and finalise Windows Vista, we’re looking ahead to how we deliver the best possible experience for customers, now and into the future," said Kevin Johnson, co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division (PSD), which is at the centre of the reshuffle.
"Today we are enhancing the leadership team and structure across the division to ensure we have the right organization to support our technology vision," he added.
The overhaul of the crucial PSD operations is intended to boost Microsoft’s software plus services and its "Windows Live" strategy, to increase the company’s "agility in delivering innovation to customers" and to target new growth opportunities linked to Windows Live, Johnson said.
Under the shake-up, Microsoft gave one of its key executives, Steven Sinofky, new powers to plan future versions of the software used to power most of the world’s computers.
Sinofski, who is currently responsible for the firm’s Office applications, will be responsible for better aligning Microsoft’s Windows and MSN Internet operations with its strategy to deliver some software over the Internet, a strategy arch-rivals Yahoo and Google are aggressively touting.
The much-heralded Vista platform will now only be launched to the public after the end-of-year holiday sales, the company’s busiest sales period and a full five years after the release of its last system, Windows XP.
News of the delay sent Microsoft’s stock dipping sharply on Wall Street. Microsoft had dropped by 1.10% to 26.85 dollars in late trade yesterday.
Analysts said that for an industry that relies on relentless innovation to power sales and earnings, the delay to a system touted as the best platform for the multimedia age is bad news.
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