Microsoft after Bill Gates - a briefing in the Economist

This three-page briefing in the Economist coincides with the imminent departure of Microsoft's founder Bill Gates. It provides a clear indication of the state of play in Microsoft: over 80,000 employees, net annual income of over $16bn, a market capitalisation of around $300bn (half as much as in 1999), with plenty of questions being asked about the quality of the Vista operating system. Whatever your role, the briefing is worth scan-reading for the summary it provides of Microsoft's direction of travel: towards products that support collaboration and interconnectedness over the Internet. Bear in mind that on Gates's departure, the boss of Microsoft will be Ray Ozzie, who was an early pioneer of online collaboration. Ozzie more or less invented Lotus Notes, and then went on to found online collaboration software company Groove Networks. Microsoft bought Groove in 2005, bringing Ozzie with it.