ZDNet UK: Microsoft: The next generation

“Forget the DoJ breakup. If you want to figure out how
Microsoft will morph over the next few years, the elusive NGWS is
the real key”

“While all eyes are focused on the effects that a possible
breakup of Microsoft might have on the company’s future, few are
contemplating the more immediate impact of the launch of the
software giant’s forthcoming services architecture, dubbed Next
Generation Windows Services, or NGWS.”

“Microsoft executives have likened the potential impact of the
NGWS launch to Microsoft’s 1995 Internet Strategy Day. They are
publicly touting the NGWS rollout as a major inflection point for
the company.”

“NGWS will provide Microsoft’s three-year-plus road map for its
products and strategies across the board. Consequently, it is being
masterminded by the top officials from the company’s three major
divisions — Platforms Group vice presidents Jim Allchin and Paul
Maritz, Business Productivity Group VP Bob Muglia, and Consumer
Group VP Rick Belluzzo — working in conjunction with Microsoft
Chief Software Architect Bill Gates.”

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