Microsoft

Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell is trading in his old job for a new role at General Motors.

GM announced Monday that Liddell will join the automaker at the start of 2010 as its new vice chairman and chief financial officer.

Chris Liddell, GM's new CFO

(Credit: Microsoft)

As Microsoft's CFO since May 2005, Liddell led the company's global finance group where he managed a variety of tasks, including acquisitions, corporate strategy, treasury activities, tax planning, accounting, internal auditing, and investor relations. Microsoft said that during this past fiscal year, it slashed costs by $3 billion and rewarded investors with $14 billion in dividends and stock buy-backs.

Liddell announced in November that he would be leaving Microsoft at year's end. At the time, he didn't indicate specific plans for his next professional role, but said he wanted to look at opportunities beyond his career as a CFO. Stepping in for Liddell as Microsoft's new CFO will be Peter Klein, currently the CFO of Microsoft's Business Division.

"Chris brings a depth and experience to this job that were unmatched in our search for a new financial leader," said Ed Whitacre, GM chairman and CEO, in a statement. "Chris will lead our financial and accounting operations on a global basis and will report directly to me. We're also looking to his experience and insights in corporate strategy as a member of the senior leadership team in helping our restructuring efforts."

The 51-year-old Liddell has an educational background that includes an engineering degree with honors from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and a master of philosophy degree from Oxford University in England. He also served with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a member on its Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting.

Before joining Microsoft, Liddell was finance chief at International Paper and, before that, chief executive of Carter Holt Harvey, the paper company's New Zealand-based affiliate.

There are those who believe that Microsoft came up with the name Bing for its refreshed search engine after staring at the word "Bingo" for several days and then removing the last letter.

However, a small entity in St. Louis has decided that the name Bing was, is and always should be, theirs.

According to Ars Technica, Bing Information Design! has designs on some compensation from Microsoft, as it has used the delightful term, followed by a slightly less delightful exclamation point, ala Yahoo, since 2000.

Even to the most bleary eyes, Bing Information Design's Web site does not immediately stir confusion with Bing the search engine. Bing Information Design is "dedicated to taking tough, hard-to-define concepts and boiling them down into simple, easy-to-understand ideas."

So perhaps there might be those who would prefer a few pictures that would engender easy-to-understand ideas that might explain one thing: how could anyone confuse a massively promoted search engine from Microsoft with a minimally known company whose two founders "have over 25 years of experience in design, illustration, branding, information architecture and publishing"?

(Credit: Diego 3336/Flickr)

Bing Information Design's lawsuit says that Microsoft's Bing "causes confusion with regard to the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, confuses the public with regard to the origin of the plaintiff's services and dilutes the value of the plaintiff's trademark."

The lawsuit also suggests that Microsoft knew of the St. Louis Bing and that therefore Bing deserves "actual and punitive damages, including having Microsoft pay for corrective advertising to remedy the confusion it caused."

I am sure that many an ad agency would leap at the opportunity to create a campaign that says "Bing. The Decision Engine Decisively Not from St. Louis. And Decisively Lacking an Exclamation Point."

A Microsoft spokesperson told Ars Technica: "We believe this suit to be without merit and we do not believe there is any confusion in the marketplace with regard to the complainant's offerings and Microsoft's Bing."

It will be interesting to see what proof of marketplace confusion Bing Information Design's lawyers might offer. Has there truly been consternation in Missouri? Have people walked into Bing Information Design's offices expecting to find Steve Ballmer chewing on some ideas?

It will be also interesting to hear whose fine decision it was to put that lovely exclamation point after the Bing in the St. Louis company's name.

One should always have sympathy with the small fish in the big sea. But is this a slightly gratuitous attempt by Bing Information Design to gain a little cha-ching? One awaits the full evidence with an exclamation point in one's heart.

Microsoft said on Thursday that it would delay by "a few weeks" the launch of its Visual Studio 2010 developer tool suite and version 4.0 of the .Net Framework.

In a blog posting, developer division head S. Somasegar said the company needs more time as it continues to work on some performance issues.

Microsoft had planned to launch the product in March. The company now plans an added test version--a release candidate--to launch in February, with the final version coming a few weeks after the planned March launch.

"Since the goal of the release candidate is to get more feedback from you, the team will need some time to react to that feedback before creating the final release build," Somasegar said. "We are therefore moving the launch of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 back a few weeks."

Among the features in Visual Studio 2010 is a TiVo-like recording capability, dubbed IntelliTrace. Other features new to the 2010 release include support for Windows 7 and Windows Azure as well as tools for building on top of Microsoft's Sharepoint product.

A look at the Zune HD Twitter app in action.

(Credit: Screenshot by Donald Bell/CNET)

It has only been available for a day, but already the Zune HD's Twitter app is being updated after it was criticized by users for automatically abbreviating explicit words in users' tweets. It doesn't even give them the option of determining when or which words should be censored.

As you might expect, the Web is overflowing with unhappy users. Commenters on the Slashdot entry discussing the censors were up in arms over the feature. Quite a few of those folks echoed "rocket97's" comments, who said that the "[censors] should be an option, not a requirement." Others took the opportunity to (you guessed it) censor curse words within the comments to voice their protest.

They might have a point. Twitter itself doesn't censor any tweets that contain curse words. Even Twitter clients like TweetDeck don't censor tweets or direct messages from Twitter users.

It didn't take long for Microsoft to respond. After seeing that users were having issues with the application, Microsoft admitted that the app does indeed censor explicit tweets. It also said in an e-mailed statement to CNET News that it plans to rectify the situation soon.

"The recently released Twitter for Zune HD application has been abbreviating some explicit words in tweets when viewed on the device," a Microsoft spokesperson admitted to CNET News. "However, these explicit words do appear in their full text on the Twitter site or on any other Twitter client. We have identified the issue and are taking steps to update the application as soon as possible to ensure Twitter for Zune HD users are able to view tweets in their original state."

If you're interested in learning more about the Zune HD Twitter app, you can check out our hands-on by clicking here.

Microsoft's apology Tuesday about a contractor copying blogging site software from a small company called Plurk might not be enough to take the lawyers off alert.

"We are still thinking of pursuing the full extent of our legal options available due the seriousness of the situation," Plurk co-founder Alvin Woon said in a statement posted Thursday. "Basically, Microsoft accepts responsibility, but they do not offer accountability."

Microsoft accepted responsibility for the copying, blaming it on a third-party company. It suspended access indefinitely to the site at MSN China, called Juku. "We apologize to Plurk and we will be reaching out to them directly to explain what happened and the steps we have taken to resolve the situation," Microsoft said Tuesday.

There are many ways to measure how Windows 7 is doing. There are reports on new PC sales, tallies of boxed copy sales, and surveys of planned enterprise adoption, to name a few.

But one of the most encouraging signs for Microsoft is the lack of phone calls it is getting from people with problems. Overall, Microsoft said the volume of calls to its support lines is half of what it expected.

Gordon

(Credit: Microsoft)

"Overall we are finding our call center volume is down significantly more than we expected," said Barbara Gordon, vice president of customer support for Microsoft.

The drop in calls isn't just due to the fact that Windows 7 appears less problem-plagued than its predecessor, though. In the weeks leading up to and following the operating system's release, Microsoft also added two new ways to get help--through an online forum called Microsoft Answers and via the Microsoft Helps feed on Twitter.

"What we have found is we are seeing far more take-up of self-service...forums and Twitter to get responses," Gordon said in an interview this week.

With the Microsoft Answers forums, which launched late last year, users submit questions and experienced community members offer answers that Microsoft workers later validate to make sure they are correct.

So far, Microsoft has validated some 60,000 solutions. The company says that 83 percent of English-language queries are answered within seven days. Those in other languages have a slightly lower rate, but even of those 78 percent are taken care of within a week.

Meanwhile, Microsoft went live with its Twitter help site in October. Users can post a tweet with "@microsofthelps" in the message and Microsoft will respond. A team of seven employees dedicated full time to the project work with the broader support organization to respond to the many tweets. The goal is to either answer simple questions or to point people to a place where they can get a more detailed answer.

"It's hard to answer (most questions) in 140 characters," Gordon said.

But, she said, social networks like Twitter, Gordon said, allow the company to realize a problem that could be affecting thousands of people via a single short message.

"It's really like a customer megaphone," Gordon said.

Gordon hopes the new online options will not only cut down on call center expenses, but ultimately improve overall customer satisfaction with Windows. Customer satisfaction an area where the Mac has traditionally outpaced the various PC brands.

But Gordon says she hopes to see Windows gain ground. "We are really working on this," she said.

Although Apple touts its personal touch with its stores, Gordon suggests Microsoft's high-tech approach might ultimately win it more fans. "If I can help myself without having to go to the mall and sit at a geek bar I will be happier," she said.

Nonetheless, one of the main features of Microsoft's two retail stores is an answer desk very similar to the "Genius Bar" found in Apple stores.

As for the questions people ask on Twitter, they range from the expected range of bugs and problems to inquiries about future versions of products. This week, for example, one user asked when to expect Windows 8. Although vague, the answer was at least as direct as anything a reporter would get by asking Redmond.

"It will be a few years until the next official version comes out," Microsoft replied on the Twitter feed. "Keep an eye out on microsoft.com for future updates."

In addition to building goodwill and cutting costs, the online forums also allow Microsoft to quickly see when a problem is affecting a significant number of users. Such mechanisms helped Microsoft to recognize and then solve a video driver problem that was causing some users to have their systems hang when they reached 62 percent completion on an upgrade to Windows 7.

Within a week, Microsoft had a solution on its Website and shortly thereafter it posted an automated "Fix It," essentially a script that a user can click on to have the proper steps done automatically. The Windows 7 upgrade fix has already been used more than 35,000 times, Microsoft said.

"We're getting people able to meet their needs themselves," Gordon said.

Perhaps the next time Brad Smith heads to Brussels, it will be for a vacation.

After years of wrangling with Microsoft, the European Commission announced an accord with the software giant Wednesday on several fronts that seems poised to put an end to its antitrust concerns with Redmond.

Brad Smith

(Credit: Microsoft)

In the wake of the announcement, I spoke to Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, about the decision, what it means for the future of Windows, and whether the company sees its spot on the antitrust hot seat now being taken up by other companies, including Google.

Here's an edited transcript of our conversation:

Q: Is this really it as far as Europe is concerned?
Smith: This is definitely a major milestone for Microsoft. Today's announcement reflects a broad set of agreements that really address a wide array of issues. At the same time, we obviously need to keep our eye on the ball. Antitrust issues will continue to be important for us, just as they are going to continue to be important for a number of other leaders in our industry. We're going to have to do an excellent job implementing these agreement. We are going to have to do an excellent job addressing any new issues that arise in the future. Having said all that, I also think it is fair to say, as Commissioner [Neelie] Kroes did when she spoke in Brussels, this does represent the closing of one chapter and gives us the opportunity to open a new chapter. We're definitely enthused about that opportunity and we're committed to ensuring the next chapter is a positive and constructive one.

One of the things that Steve Ballmer talks a lot about in terms of antitrust issues is getting legal clarity on what one can and can't do. Do you feel like you now have that understanding with the EU?
Smith: I think this gives us a great deal more clarity. I think it gives the industry as a whole more clarity. It's perhaps most helpful in the area of interoperability because it really implements a new framework. It applies to a broad array of Microsoft products--Windows, Windows Server, Exchange, SharePoint--and for all of these products it has certain principles that we have to adhere to. It addresses the way we implement file formats.

At the same time, no advance on any single day can ever answer all questions for all companies for all time.

Essentially the EU has said through its very objections that you can't put a media player in Windows and you can't put a browser in Windows. What do you feel Microsoft can include in future versions?
Smith: There are two things to think about. First is what gets included in Windows, and second, what's the right way to address something that is included.

Our basic approach is to include in Windows, software that has APIs (application programming interfaces) that will be beneficial for other applications to call on and use. The browser is definitely an example of that. It's quite probably even more important in that role today than it was, say, when the browser issues first arose in the 1990s. The media player plays a similar role in terms of some broad APIs that are used by a wide variety of other applications.

There are other things that we have put in Windows in the past that don't necessarily involve the same role. A good example of that is Windows Live Messenger. We had Windows Messenger in Windows XP. It's not in Windows Vista or Windows 7 We're trying to make thoughtful decisions about what is included.

Then the second question that arises is how do things get included. How do we document APIs that our browser is using so that other browsers can use them as well? That's part of the U.S. consent decree.

How do we ensure that [computer makers] have flexibility to offer competing choices? How do we ensure that consumers are aware of competing choices and can use them if they wish. That latter part is an area where different governments have chosen different approaches at different times. The U.S. Department of Justice chose one approach in its consent decree. The Korean Fair Trade Commission chose a second approach. The European Commission in the media player case in 2004 chose a third approach. Today's announcement on the browser reflects the European Commission choosing a fourth approach.

Some people have the opinion that as a result of these different antitrust issues, Microsoft really finds itself with one hand tied behind its back as it competes in the battles of today. Do you believe Microsoft in the current antitrust environment competes on an even footing with some of the other Internet giants?
Smith: I do believe it is very important for all technology leaders in our industry to follow the same laws and obey the same rules. The rules don't necessarily apply in the same way when a company has a small market share as it does when a company has a large market share. But there are a number of companies that have large market shares for very important products. We've taken a number of steps to get into line with new legal rules in this field. The law has evolved and we've needed to evolve to address these new obligations.

We do believe our competitors need to play by the same rules. They've often been at the forefront of asking regulators to evolve the law in new directions. Now that the regulators have done so, we believe they need to pay attention as well.

Do you anticipate a period of time over the next few years where Microsoft is more likely to be the subject of antitrust inquiries or the company on the other side of the table for a change?
Smith: I think that we have addressed a very wide array of issues. Perhaps, in part because we were the first company to have to go through these inquiries, at least since the dawn of the PC era. We've probably had to go farther and sooner than other companies have had to do. We're now in an era where a different company seems to be in the headlines for competition law issues, if not every day, at least every month.

I think that what we are going to see in the next decade is this field of law being applied to a wide number of technology leaders that have high market share. We're going to see that, not only in Washington and Brussels, but we're likely to see that in more countries around the world simply because the global economy has evolved.

Have you expressed concerns specifically to Europe or Washington, D.C., about some of Google's behaviors?
Smith: We were very transparent last year when Google entered into its agreement with Yahoo. We felt that that was an illegal agreement that Google had entered into for the sole purpose of preventing Microsoft from becoming a more successful competitor, together with Yahoo, in the search space.

It was only when the Department of Justice informed the parties that it was on the verge of filing suit that Google decided to drop that agreement. We have not been shy about raising concerns when we have them.

It was only a couple hours after you guys settled with Brussels that we heard from D.C. with regards to Intel. When you initially heard that the FTC was filing suit against Intel, did you have feelings of empathy toward what their lawyers are going through, or what were your initial reactions?
Smith: I obviously know from a lot of firsthand experience the challenges that arise when a company needs to address these kinds of issues. Our road was a long one and it had its share of difficult moments. Antitrust issues are never easy for company to address.

This isn't a case where Microsoft has taken a public stance or even voiced to the regulators a position, is it?
Smith: We have not taken any public or nonpublic positions on the issues.

Are you guys looking to reach an agreement with Plurk? You guys said that you used code you shouldn't have? I'm curious if you are trying to negotiate some sort of settlement with them?
Smith: I wouldn't want to say anything that goes beyond the public statement we put out.

It does seem when I look at any particular issue with regards to the Internet, Microsoft tends to have a much more cautious approach. It seems like it is tough to compete when others are bundling more than you.
Smith: I think our goal is to be thoughtful but also fast-moving. As we look at the Internet today, it is increasingly a regulated space. That wasn't the case a decade ago. I think a thoughtful company needs to really think through how its products and services are going to comply with the regulations that are going to be enforced or likely to be applied in many different countries around the world. At the same time, one cannot let that get in the way of moving forward quickly. I think it's striking that balance that is really quite important. One needs to move fast. One shouldn't move faster than speed of thought and yet one shouldn't be so thoughtful that one simply analyzes problems and fails to solve them.

Do you think Microsoft has erred a little too much on side of caution in recent years?
Smith: I don't know that we've erred too much on the side of caution, but I do think it's extremely important we move quickly. This is a very dynamic space it is certain to remain a very dynamic space. Customers are interested in deploying new products and services, whether it is on the client, on the server, or on the cloud. The real key is to develop the capability to be both thoughtful and fast moving.

Microsoft's Browser Choice Screen

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft and the European Commission have settled their differences over the choice of Web browsers in Windows.

European Commissioner for Competition Policy Neelie Kroes on Wednesday formally announced a resolution to the Internet Explorer antitrust case against Microsoft. As part of the settlement, Windows PCs sold in the European Economic Area will now present users with a Choice Screen, allowing them to install alternative browsers beyond Internet Explorer.

The Choice Screen will offer users the ability to install up to 12 of the most widely used Web browsers that run under Windows. The choices will include the more widely known browsers, such as IE, Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox, Opera, and AOL's browser, and lesser-known products including Maxthon, K-Meleon, Flock, Avant Browser, Sleipnir, and Slim Browser.

Users can download as many of the browsers as they wish or stick with Internet Explorer. Additionally, computer makers and users in Europe will be able to turn off IE totally and set up other browsers as the default. As part of the settlement, Microsoft is also prohibited from preventing the choice of different browsers through any contractual or technical means.

Microsoft initially proposed stripping a browser out of Windows 7 entirely, a move first reported by CNET. Both competitors and the EU balked at that idea though, instead favoring some sort of ballot screen. Microsoft eventually relented, though the company and its rivals have gone back and forth for a while over the details.

Based on feedback it received, Microsoft modified and improved its design, according to the EC. The screen now appears in a neutral window, rather than an Internet Explorer window, and displays the browsers in a random order. The screen itself looks cleaner and less cluttered to the EC, which it believes will help users better focus on making their browser choice.

An important choice to make...

(Credit: Microsoft)

As part of the overall setup, Microsoft will continue to include IE in Windows but give PC makers the ability to install a different default browser. The Choice Screen will pop up the first time consumers use the default browser, allowing them to pick a different one if they prefer.

Microsoft has promised to make the screen available for five years in the European Economic Area and to offer it for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, according to Europe's antitrust regulators.

"Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use," said Kroes. "Such choice will not only serve to improve people's experience of the internet now but also act as an incentive for web browser companies to innovate and offer people better browsers in the future."

Starting six months from now, Microsoft must report regularly to the Commission on its progress in implementing the new commitments, and the Commission can review the commitments two years from now.

After the EU announced the news, Microsoft issued its own statement on the resolution of the long-running, and expensive, antitrust case.

"We are embarking on a path that will require significant change within Microsoft. Nevertheless, we believe that these are important steps that resolve these competition law concerns," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in the statement. "This is an important day and a major step forward, and we look forward to building a new foundation for the future in Europe."

The U.S. Justice Department, which waged its own years-long antitrust battle with Microsoft, applauded the outcome of the EU's case.

"As we understand it, the settlement is based on measures to enhance competition and is designed to preserve industry participants' incentives and ability to compete going forward. A settlement that helps to clarify obligations under European law allows the industry to move forward," Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's antitrust division, said in a statement.

Updated at 5:37 a.m. PDT with Microsoft's statement, at 7:15 a.m. PDT with a statement from the U.S. Justice Department, and again at 10:00 a.m. PDT with details on and images of Choice Screen and names of additional browsers.

Microsoft's feisty little search service, Bing, has finally made an iPhone app, which is now up on the Apple iTunes app store.

Bing showed off the free app at a party thrown by its mobile team in San Francisco on Tuesday night. Information about the new app is also now on Microsoft's Bing blog here.

Its description on the iTunes store says: "Make decisions and get where you need to go with Bing. See the Bing daily image and related trivia on the home screen. Search maps or the Web with your voice--even say an address. Use Image Search and flick through previews. Download Bing today to find stuff nearby and get there fast."

A Bing PR e-mail noted the key features of the app include: Daily image from Bing.com; easy to access voice search; tips and tricks on the home page; "Locate Me" functionality; ability to add pushpins and save locations; show multiple locations on a single map.

It's a sweet little irony, since Microsoft and Apple have been frenemies over the years.

But bowing to the power of the iPhone as the premiere smartphone out there, Bing has to be on its platform, if it wants to compete with Google and others in the mobile arena.

Microsoft already has some apps for the iPhone, such as for its Seadragon photo app, a Tag Reader app and various manual apps.

And, while others have made apps that allow its popular software to work on the Apple device, Microsoft has yet to release one, although sources said the company is working on them.

Microsoft has already made Bing apps for Windows phones, the BlackBerry from Research in Motion, the Sidekick and select BREW-based devices on Verizon, as well as Bing mobile from a browser.

Company execs recently showed off a spate of innovations for Bing, including new mobile features, but not in an iPhone app.

But, no matter how you look at it, the iPhone app is the big time.

Here are more screenshots of the app:

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