Microsoft Announces Massive Reorganization!

As predicted previously in WinInfo, Microsoft Corporation has announced astunning corporate reorganization that divides the company into five newdivisions. Four of these divisions were widely known previously, but thefifth, a Consumer Windows division, came as a surprise. This joins BusinessProductivity, Business and Enterprise, Developer, and Consumer and Commerce.Jim Allchin will head the Business and Enterprise group, Bob Muglia willhead the Business Productivity group, Paul Maritz will lead the Developergroup, and Brad Chase and Jon DeVaan will co-head the Consumer and Commercegroup. Robbie Bach will head the Windows Consumer division.

Microsoft president Steve Ballmer, who announced the reorganization in apress conference call at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, said that the changesshould not be construed to suggest any impending break-up of the company.

"There is no break-up of the company into smaller companies that I wouldfind acceptable, and we're certainly not thinking of that as a possibility,"Ballmer said.

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates agrees.

"The kind of alignments we do relate to competition but [the reorg] hasnothing to do with any lawsuit," Gates said. "Looking to the future, ourvision is much more expansive. We see a world where people can use anycomputing device to do whatever they want to do anytime, anywhere. The PCwill continue to have a central role in this future, but it will be joinedby an incredibly rich variety of digital devices accessing the power of theInternet."

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The company says that the new reorganization is designed to segregateMicrosoft's business activities into customer-centered groups:

Microsoft also spelled out its key priorities for the coming months. Firston the list is making Windows 2000 more scalable, reliable, and available,while simplifying the product and lowering its Total Cost of Ownership(TCO), major concern for the corporate set to which this operating system isaimed. Pervasive information availability, specifically for travelingknowledge workers, is also high on the list. Microsoft is also looking tothe future, where a new generation of PCs and non-PC devices will offerInternet access and other services with a much friendlier interface.Microsoft sees the Internet as the "ultimate marketplace" for all users,regardless of the types of devices they choose to use.

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"This new structure is part of the reinvention of Microsoft," said Ballmer."

"We want to give people the power, connectivity and the ability to choosehow they want to use computing in their lives," Gates said