July, 2010

On Sunday, the NYT’s Randall Stross looked at my original By the Numbers post , and noted that I had completely missed on an incredibly important piece. As Stross said: "Unfortunately, by trying to argue that Microsoft is doing well in all areas, including those dominated by Apple and Google, Mr. Shaw fails to show Microsoft at its best. Lost from view is what arguably is Microsoft’s very best story — its transformation into a powerhouse supplier of the specialized software that...

It has been a busy week for Microsoft, but quiet here on the blog – that’s because it has also been Microsoft’s annual sales and marketing meeting, MGX, in Atlanta. Nevertheless there has been plenty of interesting news. The headline is Microsoft’s earnings announcement , beating estimates and setting revenue records. The media also responded positively to the news. Microsoft also followed up the unveiling of its innovative, controller-less game system for Xbox 360, by...

Cross posted from the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Blog . Yesterday in Atlanta I had the great pleasure of attending the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) Digital Arts Festival. This is one of my favorite events of the year where we get to see incredible entries from kids across America who have brought their creativity to life using technology. You can see examples of the amazing entries on the Digital Arts Festival gallery website BGCA provides programs and...

The Worldwide Partner Conference is flying by. Partners have told me they are especially excited to participate in a Worldwide Partner Conference that’s more dynamic than ever. I’ve talked with dozens of partners attending the conference and I’ve been thrilled to hear how excited they are about Microsoft’s products, the great speakers, the networking opportunities, and the chance to share what they’ve learned with customers when they return home. Watching the connections...

This morning at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, DC, we had the privilege of welcoming former President Bill Clinton, who spoke about the need for sustainable systems and how IT can be a key catalyst in building a virtuous cycle of sustained social and economic development. He pointed out how the IT revolution has led the dramatic improvements in productivity, access to information, and prosperity for those at the top of the pyramid, but noted that for more than 5 billion...

Today I will speak to Microsoft’s global partner community for the first time in my new job as corporate vice president of the Worldwide Partner Group (click here if you want to watch my keynote online). This is my 13th day in this role, and while each of those days have given me a new chance to see the capability and power of Microsoft’s partners, nowhere is that more clear than at the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Washington D.C. this week. I’m amazed by the energy here...

It’s already been a busy week for Microsoft and we aren’t even done with Monday yet. About the only people who didn’t catch that Steve Ballmer talked about Windows 7 Tablets coming in the future were the Martians. More about them (the Martians) later. You can see video of Steve's presentation at our Worldwide Partners Conference here and a transcript of the speech is available here . A full roster of all todays video and transcripts are also available. But the biggest news of...

Bob Muglia outlined our vision for the cloud today, at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, DC. You can read our press release and watch the keynote here , but I wanted to give some additional context on our strategy to help businesses embrace cloud computing. We’re committed to providing a platform that lets customers take full advantage of cloud computing. For those who want a standardized service platform - we’ll run the cloud for them, whether in our data center or theirs...

It’s been a busy week full of fireworks, drama, recrimination and tears. And that’s just the media circus around LeBron James. Back in the real world we had just as much drama in a competitive but totally positive way at the Imagine Cup 2010 . Highlights include the winners , a message from the First Lady, Michelle Obama and more. It was also a short week in the US because of the July 4th holiday but some of the groups around Microsoft still had time to let off a few firecrackers....

At the Imagine Cup in Warsaw today, Microsoft International President Jean-Philippe Courtois said that all 400 participants of this year’s 2010 World Final will be invited – along with their teams – to enroll in Microsoft’s BizSpark program. Courtois said that the BizSpark initiative was one way Microsoft could help the Imagine Cup participants achieve their goals of solving big problems through technology. “That’s why, tonight, we want to offer each and every...

It's a big weekend - and not just because most of us in Redmond have a long weekend for the 4 th of July holiday. In Warsaw, students from around the world are converging for this year's Imagine Cup , our annual technology competition. This year some 325,000 students took on the challenge of solving big global problems as outlined by the United Nations Millenium Development goals. Some student projects already are making progress in meeting those goals. Look for stories on the finals this...

Earlier today I spoke about “openness” at the USI Conference in Paris. The conference was organized around four themes: innovation, sustainability, openness and value. I was a little surprised when the conference organizers asked me to speak on the “open” topic. After all, there has been a lot of debate over the years about whether Microsoft is open enough, and whether we are supportive of open source and open standards. These debates have gotten heated at times, and have...