February 8th, 2010

Microsoft's Windows 7 chief: It's not us; it's your batteries

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 1:34 pm

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, Support, System builders, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: Battery, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 7, Engineering, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft’s President of Windows has weighed in about the reports of alleged problems with PC batteries coming from some Windows 7 users.

Steven Sinofsky posted to the Engineering Windows 7 blog about the battery-notification issue on February 8. If you want to know all about battery performance, telemetry data, and more, read the full post. If you don’t have time, here’s the synopsis: It’s not us; it’s your batteries.

Sinofsky blogged:

“(E)very single indication we have regarding the reports we’ve seen are simply Windows 7 reporting the state of the battery using this new feature and we’re simply seeing batteries that are not performing above the designated threshold.”

Sinofsky said that Microsoft and its partners have been investigating the reports, especially over the past few days, and have found the battery-metering feature of Windows 7 to be working fine. Because previous versions of Windows didn’t include this meter, some users may not have been aware their batteries were degrading, he said. But there is no truth to reports that Windows 7 is sapping batteries prematurely or that any drivers or the BIOS in Windows 7 PCs are not functioning correctly, Sinofsky said.

Microsoft is advising any Windows 7 customers who are receiving unwarranted battery-expiration notices or experiencing other battery-related issues to file a report with Microsoft or the original PC maker. Sinofsky advised those individuals to email him directly via the Engineering 7 contact page, use the TechNet forum, the Microsoft Answers forum, “or visit support.microsoft.com where you can get additional information about how to contact Microsoft assisted support in your region.”

There you have it. Are those of you experiencing problems satisfied by this explanation? Meanwhile, how about those Windows 7 reliability-update issues?

February 8th, 2010

Is Windows 7 reliability fix making PCs less reliable?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 10:55 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

There are reports in a TechNet forum that claim a recently released reliability and stability patch for Windows 7 may end up making some PCs less reliable and stable.

The Ars Technica site discovered the thread about the fix, KB977074, late last week. KB977074, one of a number of Windows 7 updates Microsoft made available for download at the end of January, was designed to “resolve some reliability issues in Windows 7.”

Some users commenting on TechNet said they were experiencing blue screens and hangs when trying to start up their Windows 7 PCs since applying the reliability patch; others say they are experiencing shut-down lags which may be connected to the same patch. Some users claim that by hiding the reliability update, these problems are alleviated.

When I asked Microsoft officials about the alleged problem, I received the following statement via a spokesperson:

“We have not seen this (reliability/stability problems resulting from the patch) as a major issue within our customer support channels; however, we are aware of it and are working to identify the cause.  At this point, there is no indication that this specific update is the cause of the install issues. We will share more information when it becomes available.”

Microsoft officials also said recently they had not received reports via the company’s official customer support channels of alleged battery issues that some Windows 7 users said they’ve been experiencing. I’ve heard back from two users (one of whom, a Microsoft Gold reseller partner, I quote here) who’ve been willing to share their real names and details about these problems, so I’m a bit puzzled about Microsoft’s claim that they haven’t heard direct complaints. (Maybe there are some official help-desk hoops these individuals aren’t jumping through? Or maybe Microsoft isn’t getting complaints directly, but certain OEMs are? Not sure….)

I myself have noticed that applications that I haven’t closed before attempting to shut down Windows 7 are more noticeably delaying my PC shutdown in the couple of weeks. I have not experienced any new boot-up problems, however.

I’m curious if anyone else out there is having reliability/stability problems since applying the above-mentioned fix. If so, please chime in via Talkback or send email to me using the form at the bottom of my site. (I won’t share anyone’s names or information unless I ask and you OK it.)

February 5th, 2010

Windows 7 battery update: Still no conclusive findings

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 3:56 pm

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client

Tags: Battery, Microsoft Corp., Laptop Computer, Engineering, Microsoft Windows 7, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft and its PC maker partners are continuing to look into battery problems which some Windows 7 users have said they’ve been experiencing. So far, there’s nothing new to report, Microsoft officials said on Friday, February 5, but their investigation is continuing.

Update: On February 8, Microsoft issued a new statement, via the WIndows Engineering 7 blog. Bottom line: Microsoft says it’s the batteries, not Win7, at fault for the growing number of alleged battery-related Windows 7 problems.

It’s still unclear exactly what is going on — whether there’s a problem with the PC batteries themselves or there is something that could be fixed via a software update/patch. Reports about what’s happening are all over the map: Some are claiming they are getting less battery life with Windows 7 than Vista or XP. Others are saying they are getting false reports that their batteries are faulty. There are a variety of battery-related complaints, some dating back to before the final release of Windows 7, in the Microsoft TechNet forums.

Given the relatively small number of reports of problems (seeing that Microsoft has sold 60 million copies of Windows 7 to date), is this just a case of normal hardware failure?  From the TechNet forums, problems seem to be occurring across a variety of vendors’ systems, and aren’t just isolated to a single type of PC.

One source I spoke with this week, who asked not to be identified, threw cold water on the idea that Windows 7 itself could be destroying PC batteries.”There’s no way a Windows 7 interaction with the BIOS would cause any temporary or permanent battery damage,” the source said.

One of Microsoft’s Gold reseller partners told me he received a puzzling response when he contacted HP about 30 HP NC6400 laptops, purchased two years ago, which are experiencing battery-related issues.

“I escalated this with HP this past week and they were ignorant of the issue (still waiting for resolution and callbacks),” said Scott Hill, CIO of RightSize IT. “One recommendation was to roll back to Vista (never again), another was to roll back a laptop to XP to verify if the battery was good (loss of productivity), and the final one was to replace all my laptops with a Win 7 compatible laptop (over a $60,000 investment).

There’s no one “throat to choke,” Hill said. If this is a driver problem, is it a Microsoft issue or an HP one?

“HP states that the drivers (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface, or ACPI) are Microsoft supplied so they are pointing to them, ” Hill said. “Further, I noticed in the Device Manager that I have one Unknown Driver – “ACPI\HPQ0004”. What drives me nuts is that this has occurred across all platforms at the same time – what is the possibility that 30 LION batteries in 30 laptops having the same condition? The only consistent variable is the ACPI drivers from Microsoft.”

Hill continued: “We show 100% charge using the ‘Balanced Power Plan’ and after about 10 minutes it reaches 92% then falls to 7% in less than a minute and shuts down the laptops – when previously with XP we were getting three to four hours per charge. What’s worse, is that we lost the utilities we used to have to calibrate and discharge the batteries to avoid battery memory issues. I think there is a bug in the ACPI in cycling the batteries through the charging, etc.”

If others have reported problems to Microsoft or their PC providers and have open helpdesk tickets, I’d be interested to hear what you’re hearing back….

February 3rd, 2010

Windows veteran Mike Nash to leave Microsoft

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:57 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows XP, Windows client

Tags: Team, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

A couple of weeks after Windows Senior Vice President Bill Veghte decided to leave Microsoft, another Windows marketing veteran is doing the same.

Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President of Windows Platform Strategy, will be leaving the company in February. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed his departure when I asked. From the e-mailed statement:

“We can confirm that Mike Nash is leaving Microsoft in a couple weeks. In his 19 years, Mike made an impact in number of key roles at the company. We appreciate his service and wish him well.”

Update: Nash will be joining Amazon.com to work on the Kindle, I hear. I’ve asked to see whether Nash will be replaced. No word back yet on that one…. Microsoft officials declined to comment (at least for now) on when and if that will happen.

In his most recent job, Nash was responsible for pieces of Windows business strategy, ecosystem engagement, consumer security, Internet Explorer, and emerging markets, according to his bio on Microsoft’s Web site. He rejoined the Windows team, after a six-month sabbatical, in 2007.

Nash also was the first product manager on the original Windows NT marketing team; the Corporate Vice President of the Security Technology Unit; and a driver of a number of Microsoft acquisitions in the security space.

With Nash’s departure, all of the top Windows marketing leaders who were part of the Windows Business Group created under Veghte three years ago — Mike Sievert, Will Poole, Joe Peterson and Nash — are now gone from the company. With Windows 8 starting to ramp up and Windows President Steven Sinofsky continuing to surround himself with an inner circle of leaders of his own choosing (many of whom were part of the Office division), the changing of the guards isn’t too surprising,…

February 3rd, 2010

Microsoft, PC makers investigating mounting reports of Windows 7 battery problems

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:30 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: Battery, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Engineering, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft investigating reports of battery-expiration problems about which a number of Windows 7 users are complaining.

On TechNet, there’s a growing thread of complaints about the battery issues. In some cases, users said Windows 7 appears to be draining their batteries too quickly, especially in the case of netbooks. Other users said Windows 7 was providing them with warnings that their batteries were in danger of expiring or damaged, even when they were fully charged and fine. It’s unclear whether it is only users upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 who are being affected, or whether the problem also is hitting those with brand-new Windows 7 PCs.

The complaints about problems with Windows 7 and batteries predate the release to manufacturing of the operating system last summer. But some in the TechNet forum claim Windows 7 beta and Release Candidate (RC) builds didn’t experience these problems, but the final RTM version did.

On February 2, Microsoft officials said they were looking into the reports in conjunction with PC makers. Here’s the company’s official statement on the issue:

“We are investigating this issue in conjunction with our hardware partners. The warning received in Windows 7 uses firmware information to determine if battery replacement is needed. We are working with our partners to determine the root cause and will update with information and guidance as it becomes available.”

Speaking of Windows 7 RC, if you’re still running it, you’re going to start getting warnings about its expiration, starting on February 15. Over the next couple of months, Microsoft will increase the warnings, with final and complete expiration of the RC slated for June 1.

February 2nd, 2010

Troubleshooting Windows 7 deployments: Maybe two trips to Vegas are in my future

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:43 am

Categories: Azure, Channel, Code names, Corporate strategy, Service Pack, System Center, Utility/cloud computing, Virtualization, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server"), Windows server

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

I hate Las Vegas. I’ve successfully whittled down my travel schedule so that I have only have to be there once a year (for Microsoft’s Mix conference). But I’m starting to wonder whether I’m going to have to break my own rule and go twice in 2010.

The Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2010, back in Las Vegas yet again, has some interesting sessions on the docket, even for those IT pros who aren’t Configuration Manager geeks. MMS runs from April 19 to April 23.

Microsoft is slated to detail in depth at MMS two new management products the final versions of which it is on tap to roll out a few weeks after the conference: System Center Essentials 2010 and Data Protection Manager 2010. There’s the intriguing sounding “Troubleshooting Windows 7 Deployments” on the just-released full session line-up. And there are promises of more about the Dynamic Infrastructure Toolkit for System Center — the tool Microsoft introduced this partner-centric offering a year ago with claims of it being a key piece of its foundation for its private cloud. The final version of the Dynamic Infrastructure Toolkit is due out in the first half of 2010.

System Center, Microsoft’s suite of management products, is already over a billion-dollar business for Microsoft. And making management integral to everything from Windows 8 to Windows Mobile is top of mind inside Microsoft these days.

Yes, I used Windows 7 in the headline for this post because “DPM 2010: Coming soon” would scare off more than attract most readers. But the upcoming releases of Microsoft’s key management wares are worth a look, in their own right.

System Center Essentials 2010, currently in the near-final Release Candidate test phase of development, is a new software deployment and patch app aimed at mid-size businesses with between 50 and 500 PCs. It is a bundle built with other System Center products — and like other products in the Microsoft “Essentials” family, scaled to target mid-market users. DPM 2010 is all about protection and recovery of Exchange 2010 and 2007, SharePoint 2010 and 2007 and SQL Server 2008.

And here’s more on that touted and potentially handy Windows 7 session from the MMS session line-up:

Troubleshooting Windows 7 Deployments
Speaker(s): Michael Niehaus

When everything works, Windows 7 deployment is great. But what about when things break? In this session, we’ll look at common causes and solutions for failed Windows 7 deployments, looking at issues with the Windows 7 installation process itself (SETUP and related tools), Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (Lite Touch), and ConfigMgr 2007 SP2 (Zero Touch).

I’m hoping and expecting the Softies to say more about the “System Center Cloud” strategy/offering that Microsoft Server and Tools President Bob Muglia mentioned during his keynote last fall at the Professional Developers Conference. If they end up doing so, then another Vegas sojourn is definitely in the cards for me….

January 28th, 2010

Earnings take-away: Microsoft is still powered by Windows

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 3:47 pm

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: Revenue, Microsoft Corp., Earnings, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Sales Strategy, Sales Force Management, Operational Accounting, Operating Systems, Software

Microsoft’s brass is always looking for the next billion dollar business and has stuck a toe into everything from healthcare to energy monitoring. But as the company’s second quarter earnings for fiscal 2010, which Microsoft released on January 28, show, Windows is still the big wheel that keeps on turning in Redmond.

Consumer sales of Windows 7 buoyed Microsoft to report record earnings, even after deferrals were figured in. Microsoft reported net income of $6.66 billion, or 74 cents a share, on revenue of $19.02 billion, which included $1.71 billion in Windows 7 deferred revenue for the quarter.

As part of that announcement, Microsoft reported that it has sold more than 60 million Windows 7 licenses to date. The combined Windows and the Windows Live division had operating income of $5.39 billion on revenue of $6.9 billion, compared to the year-ago quarter’s operating income of $2.71 billion on revenue of $4.06 billion.

Business sales of Windows 7 — unsurprisingly, given typical enterprise sales, testing and deployment cycles — have yet to kick in for Windows 7. That isn’t because business users are waiting for Windows 7 Service Pack (SP) 1, which is widely expected to ship some time this calendar year, Microsoft officials said. In fact, Microsoft is seeing more business activity around upgrades to the latest version of Windows than it has with previous launches, according to Microsoft’s new Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein.

“People want Windows 7 on all devices on all form factors,” said Klein during today’s call with Wall Street analysts. (In case you were wondering, that question wasn’t prompted by a question about the Apple iPad. Nobody asked about it during the Q&A session.)

Klein noted that netbooks currently comprise about 11 percent of the PC market and Windows is currently on 90 percent of these machines. Windows 7 is more than half of that base (XP, and to a much lesser extent, Vista) are on the rest of the Windows netbooks.

Yes, Office is still the other big Microsoft cash cow (with revenues of $4.74 billion for the Business Division this quarter), and that unit ended up really kicking in for Microsoft when the economy and Vista sales were down. But in Q2, Business Division revenues and operating income were both down, compared to the year-ago quarter. Microsoft officials attributed the decline, in part, to the imminent arrival of Office 2010. (Office sales comprise more than 90 percent of the Business Division’s revenues; Dynamics products are the other 10 percent.)

(Detailed breakdowns for each division can be found in Microsoft’s latest 10-Q, filed on January 28.)

Server and Tools held its own (revenues up two percent, primarily because of Enterprise Client Access License (CAL) suites, System Center and SQL Server). But services/consulting revenues were down two percent, or $32 million. The Online Services Division (the search/advertising unit) is still in the red. Online access (dial-up) continues to plummet, and online advertising was off. In Entertainment and Devices, gaming console and game sales were down, but Xbox Live revenues were up.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown by division of revenue and operating income (click on the image below to enlarge).

Microsoft cut 800 jobs in the second quarter of FY 2010 and spent $59 million in severance payments. No analyst on today’s call asked whether there would be more layoffs planned for this year. The Softies did say they planned to continue to keep a tight rein on costs. While the Windows division spent more than usual on sales/marketing because of Windows 7 launch-related activities and ads, other divisions cut back on not just headcount, but also sales and marketing, as well as research and development expenses.

January 28th, 2010

Does Windows need more padding to fend off Apple's iPad?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:22 am

Categories: App Compatibility, Apple, Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Mobile, Windows client

Tags: Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows 7, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

As the author of a blog that’s “All About Microsoft,” I watched yesterday’s Apple iPad unveiling with interest — as many Microsoft employees, partners and customers did, given that Apple is Microsoft’s only viable competitor in the PC operating space.

Most interesting to me, after all the Twitter and live blogging dust settled, were the various calls for Microsoft’s response. I read a few blog posts and tweets claiming Apple’s move really boxed in Microsoft and its partners. More than a few Tweeters called for Microsoft to rush out its rumored next-generation slate, codenamed Courier, to blunt the iPad’s impact. And then there was Nick Carr’s “The PC Officially Died Today.” (An odd way to look at things, given that the iPad is being billed as an addition to Apple’s PC line-up, not a replacement for Macs.)

Microsoft “response” to the iPad is Windows 7. Windows 7 on slates, tablets and other small form factors created by various PC makers. Like the iPad, many of these devices provide touch capabilities, access to productivity apps and the ability to consume music, photos, video, ebooks and other kinds of content. Unlike iPads, many also include tools for creating content, too, plus various social-networking tools and built-in keyboards. Even netbooks — supposedly beneath Apple, but as of yesterday, acknowledged by CEO Steve Jobs as an iPad competitor — can do what the iPad can (and more), though not as “elegantly” or quickly.

Some of Microsoft critics — but also some of its backers — think Windows 7, as it currently exists, isn’t enough of a response. It doesn’t really matter whether CE, Windows or Windows Mobile inside (the iPad runs the iPhone OS), they argue. What matters more is the fact that Windows 7 isn’t optimized for slate-like devices. Touch is enabled, but as a curiosity, not as the primary way a user would interact with the device, they say. Microsoft — or some vendor — needs to create a shell/user interface that sits on top of Windows 7 that turns it into a slate-centric machine, some claim.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft has a team somewhere working on that very task. (I asked recently and was told the Softies had nothing to say there.) Or maybe Windows 8’s UI will be NUIfied (natural-user-interfaced) so that it makes touch more of a first-class input citizen. Or perhaps if and when the Windows Mobile team delivers a touch experience that people actually like (hello, Zune), some of that technology/influence could make its way into Windows…

Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, said he doesn’t expect any major shifts from Redmond because of the iPad.

“As to what Microsoft will do, I suspect that they will continue to push their tools and languages, and that whether it is Windows 7 or Windows CE it is still Windows, even though for devices, I think that downplaying Windows elements such as the start button, menus, and other Windows UI components is the way to go,” Cherry said. “When I look at an iPhone or an iPad, even I, an OS junkie, never say ‘Wow, I want that phone it runs Apple OS X.’ I have never bought a TiVo because it runs whatever OS it runs, I buy it because it really makes it easier to record the programs I want to watch.  I have looked at a Windows Mobile device and rejected it because I don’t want to begin navigation of the features from a start menu. What an unnecessary hassle particularly with touch.”

I’ve written before that I’m not a fan of device convergence, as I’d rather have several different devices that  do one or two things well than one that does a bunch of things in an OK way. Will an iPad replace a PC? Not in its current incarnation. A mobile phone? Nope — too bulky. An ebook reader? Unless it can beat Amazon’s prices and offer a non-back-lit reading experience with better battery life, not in my book (or one New York Times writer’s, either). It’s a device without a compelling purpose.

In spite of those calls for Microsoft to retaliate, I’m sure the biggest response from yesterday’s unveiling among Microsoft’s execs and partners was a sigh of relief…. especially given that Microsoft is due to report its second quarter fiscal 2010 earnings later today.

January 22nd, 2010

Microsoft: Developing Windows Phone apps and games on the Mix 2010 agenda

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:57 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Google, Legal, Mobile services ("Pink"/"Rouge"), Search, Silverlight (wpf/e), Visual Studio 10 ("Hawaii"), Windows 7, Windows Live, Windows Mobile, Xbox, Yahoo

Tags: Game, Phone, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Microsoft Corp., Experience Pack, EC, Microsoft Windows, Mobile Operating Systems, Operating Systems

Windows Mobile news and rumors dominated a lot of the Microsoft headlines this week, but that wasn’t all that was happening in Redmond-related circles. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the stories that I didn’t get to:

Mobile dev is back on the Mix agenda: The folks running the Microsoft Mix 2010 conference decided after pulling a placeholder note announcing that Windows Mobile content would be on the show agenda, to reinstate the placeholder. They also added a new tidbit to it, claiming that Microsoft officials would be discussing both app and game development for next-generation Windows Phones at the show. Interesting they didn’t say Windows Mobile 6.6 or 7.0 (or Pink)…

That leaves the door open for a variety of potential topics, including how Microsoft plans to add mobile-dev support to Visual Studio 2010 (the Softies removed mobile-dev support from the VS 2010 betas, as I noted previously), as well as exactly what Silverlight on Windows Mobile 7 will enable developers to do.

Windows Mobile devs complain about not getting paid: As Ars Technica reported, some Windows Mobile developers are none too happy that they aren’t getting their expected 70 percent cut of sales from Windows Marketplace for Mobile apps. Microsoft officials are attributing some of the complaints to lack of clarity about when and how developers will get paid. Still, Microsoft doesn’t need any more Windows Mobile black eyes, especially with the Mobile World Congress show right around the corner.

Microsoft releases a Windows Experience Pack: This isn’t another Ultimate Extra kind of thing (although if there were a Windows 7 Ultimate Extra program — not that I’m advocating for one — the new Experience Pack freebies would likely be in it. The Experience Pack is a free add-on for Windows 7 and Windows Live Essentials that allows users to customize avatars and backgrounds.

EU antitrust regulators are seeking comments on the Microsoft-Yahoo partnership: Reuters reporters have seen a 38-question document that the EC is circulating in Europe that is asks “Will the merger make Microsoft a better competitor to Google?” To be clear: The Microsoft-Yahoo arrangement is not a merger; it’s a partnership unveiled in the summer of 2009, via which Bing becomes Yahoo’s primary search engine across various properties and Yahoo execs sell ads on Microsoft sites. The EC is accepting feedback through January 29, and has given itself a deadline of February 19 to clear or bar the deal. (That date can be extended, however.)

Microsoft is suing Tivo (on behalf of AT&T): The issue is DVR patents that may or may not infringe on technology used by  Microsoft in its Mediaroom IPTV offering. The show-down results from a lawsuit filed by TiVo against AT&T last year in federal court in Texas over the telecom company’s U-Verse system, an IPTV service built on top of Microsoft’s Mediaroom technology, according to TechFlash, which has the posted the full text of the lawsuit.

Bing: Now indexing more recipe sites near you. Microsoft’s search engine is indexing more food/cooking sites and making queries about what to make with particular ingredients more easily discoverable and clearly displayed. Now, if you enter ingredients, such as “scallops” or “dried cherries” into the Bing engine, one of the results categories on the left pane is a collection of recipes using those ingredients.

January 14th, 2010

Windows veteran Veghte quits Microsoft

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 12:12 pm

Categories: Corporate strategy, Vista, Windows 7, Windows client, Windows server

Tags: Job, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows 7, Sales Strategy, Software, Sales, Mary Jo Foley

After spending the last several months considering other available jobs at Microsoft, Windows veteran Bill Veghte has decided to look for a job outside the company where he has worked the past 20 years, he announced on January 14.

Until last summer, Veghte was Senior Vice president for the Windows business, and was responsible for the business strategy/planning, sales and marketing across Windows, Internet Explorer and Windows Live properties and shared responsibility for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) sales. In July, when Steven Sinofsky was appointed President of the Windows division, Veghte said he was going to look for a new role inside the company.

(Tami Reller, the Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Windows and Windows Live, is handling many of those duties these days.)

Veghte (with whom I spoke briefly by phone today) said he had been looking for a new job at Microsoft doing something new. That would be challenging, given he’s done everything from field sales, to working on CE, Office and Windows Server. In the end, after meeting with CEO Steve Ballmer, he decided to leave the company and seek a position elsewhere. He said he currently doesn’t have a job and is open to considering a variety of opportunities.

(I did ask if Veghte was one of the Microsoft layoff casualties and was told he was not.)

In his note about Veghte to employees, Ballmer had this to say:

“Bill has indicated a desire to run a business in a more end-to-end fashion and continue to explore new areas in the broad technology, communications, and services sectors.  I want to thank Bill for his important contributions to Microsoft over nearly two decades and wish him the very best in his new endeavors.”

In his own resignation note, Veghte told a story about how he came to join Microsoft. From that note:

“20 years ago I sent my resume west and got a rejection letter. I knew all about Asian culture but little of computers and software.

“I tried again. Got an interview, flew out, crashed the rental car on the 520 bridge, spent 4 hours in the ER, put on a neck brace, and went to the interviews.”

He got the job: To help market Windows 3.0. Most recently, he was marketing Windows 7. Veghte said over the last few months he felt as though he had made good on his Windows 7 commitments and was satisfied with how the product was doing.