Ballmer learns from past Microsoft missteps

SAN FRANCISCO--Steve Ballmer is remaking Microsoft in his own image.

Microsoft's chief executive told CNET News.com in an interview here this week that while some of the recent executive turnover at the software maker was through retirement, some of the departures were not voluntary.

"Some have left, and I'm sad to see it. Some have retired. And for some, it was time to move on," Ballmer said. Since he took over as CEO from Bill Gates in January, Ballmer is surrounding himself with a clutch of trusted executives--some Microsoft veterans, and some new blood.

Ballmer is also beginning to learn from Microsoft's prior mistakes. In particular, he said the company would have done better moving from Windows NT to Windows 2000 in a series of smaller steps, instead of one big one.

"Even though you're making the product better, sometimes it'd be better to ship less sooner and then come back with a later release," he said.

This gradualist approach is the one Microsoft has embraced as it moves toward its new .Net strategy, a new focus that contrasts with its current PC-centric business style. With .Net, software will be thread across a series of connected central servers, so people can access the programs through a PC, handheld or any other computing device.

The server versions of Windows 2000 exist at the deepest level of the new strategy. Microsoft this week debuted the top-end Datacenter version along with a collection of software packages for running email, databases and a variety of other server tasks.

At a launch ceremony in San Francisco this week, CNET News.com spoke with Ballmer about the rival Linux operating system and his disappointment over the company's WebTV Internet service.

CNET News.com: Can you give us an update on the state of the company? In light of all the recent leadership changes and executive turnover, how has the personality changed? Have you refashioned the company in your image?
Ballmer: Oh yes, in part. We've changed executives. Some have left and I'm sad to see it. Some have retired. And for some, it was time to move on. We have a different team, but we have an excellent team. If you look at guys like (former Silicon Graphics chief executive) Rick Belluzzo, (group vice president) Bob Muglia, (senior vice president) David Cole, (senior vice president) Brian Valentine?These are guys I've had a chance to work with close to 10 years. I have incredible respect for these guys and they're making it happen everyday. I'm excited about the management we have in place and we're still adding to it.

What has Microsoft learned from the development of Windows 2000 and the long delays in releasing the business operating system?
We learned, in another way, lessons we've learned before. The toughest thing in software is knowing how to change it enough, and not too much. Every decision you make is for the good, but if you keep changing what it

Datacenter debut

is you're trying to build, you're just pushing the development time of a given release too far out. Even though you're making the product better. Sometimes it's better to ship less sooner and then come back with a later release.

In the case of Windows 2000, we made too many decisions of the things we wanted to change?'Let's just add this. Let's just add that.' And we should have kept ourselves in better check. We should have rolled out a version without the directory and without some other capabilities. We did a good job, but we're never complete, and you shouldn't always try to be complete.

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