Power struggles, brain drain cloud Windows' future By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller February 9, 1999 2:56 PM ET For any company, managing 2,000-plus developers is no picnic. But for Microsoft Corp., where big egos and fat stock options are the norm, it's becoming next to impossible. According to a report first published in The Seattle Times on Sunday, Microsoft is expected to reorganize the company within the next few weeks into four divisions. While the company routinely reorganizes annually, this anticipated move -- which could end up dividing responsibilities for consumer and enterprise operating systems -- could be Microsoft's attempt to stem some of the inner turmoil. Product shipment delays are a mere crack in the Microsoft "we're-on-track" facade. In recent months, the entire Windows 2000 development process has started to show signs of severe stress fractures. With Windows 2000 still a no-show, Microsoft finally has confirmed that it has abandoned plans to push consumers directly from Windows 98 to the Windows NT kernel. The change in direction is just the latest indication that Microsoft's developers are drowning in a sea of mixed messages, design changes and product delays. Consider the evidence: - Established product directions are shifting. - Long-time Windows marketing veterans have been reassigned to other parts of the company. - Many of Microsoft's midlevel managers are now millionaires (at least on paper), which means its difficult to keep them motivated and on board. - The less-than-stellar Department of Justice court appearances by Senior Vice President Jim Allchin and Group Vice President Paul Maritz, coupled with the meteoric rise in popularity of Linux, are taking their toll on Microsoft's Windows Everywhere campaign. Allchin in the middle Caught in the eye of the storm is Allchin, who heads up Microsoft's Personal and Business Systems Group. As if delivering Windows 2000 wasn't difficult enough, Allchin has been forced to manage developer infighting, staff departures and employee burnout among the ranks. The mild-mannered Allchin managed to survive a showdown with former Vice President Brad Silverberg, who took a sabbatical in 1997 around the time Allchin emerged as the top Windows dog at Microsoft. Silverberg, who currently consults for Microsoft, is a long-time Allchin rival and is said to be contemplating a comeback. Microsoft officials won't disclose whether the prodigal "Bradsi" will return. But beta testers note that Silverberg has become much more visible on Windows 2000-related messages in recent weeks. Other management issues also are rocking Allchin's boat. To wit, Brian Valentine, a vice president and the design leader on Windows 2000, was brought in to replace 11-year veteran Moshe Dunie, a former leader of Microsoft's Windows and NT teams. Valentine also must work with Dave Cutler, the father of Windows NT 3.1 and current leader of Microsoft's 64-bit NT efforts. Cutler, known to be difficult to manage, is said to prefer racing cars to writing code. Meanwhile, a number of Microsoft's top minds have stepped away from the Windows 2000 effort since NT 4.0's release. The defectors include marketing guru Rich Tong, who so successfully branded Windows NT 3.x and 4.0. Rather than stay on for Windows 2000, Tong decided to spend more time with his family and moved onto the BackOffice team. Other high-profile Windows veterans, such as Jonathan Roberts and Phil Holden, have jumped onto the Windows CE team. But it is midlevel management defections that have Microsoft's top brass most worried, say partners close to Microsoft. "Microsoft has started calling its millionaire managers 'volunteers,'" said one integrator who has worked with the company over the years. "Microsoft knows there's not much they can do to keep people who can afford to retire whenever they want because their stock is worth so much." In the last 12 months alone, shares in Microsoft have risen from $50 to more than $150. Because of these distractions, Microsoft's core operating systems business faces a challenge unlike any trial the company has experienced to date. Broken promises Just last week, Microsoft was forced to acknowledge that it cannot make good on a promise to move its mainstream operating system efforts directly from Windows 9x to the NT kernel. Instead, the company will take one or more stutter steps, in the form of "minor" Windows 98 upgrade releases, before it manages to achieve its long-term goal of moving to a "major" NT Consumer release. Microsoft officials say the move does not signify a change in strategy. However, the company's stated goal, since at least 1996, has been to move its entire Windows development effort to a single code base. The original strategy, in theory, would have simplified life for Microsoft, its developers and its customers. Now, Microsoft will be forced to pull a number of the developers off Windows 2000 and put them back onto Windows 9x. One developer close to Microsoft claims the software giant already has assembled a Windows 9x follow-on team under David Cole, vice president of Microsoft's Web client and consumer experience division. Others speculate that Silverberg's responsibilities, if he returns, could include management of any Windows 98 follow-ons based on the 9x kernel. > A Microsoft spokesman says the company decided to add new Windows 9x releases to its lineup because the company had decided hardware vendors and customers could not wait two years or more for NT Consumer. Some developers, however, tell a different story. Many say Microsoft changed course because it underestimated the effort required to make all Windows 9x applications run on Windows 2000. Further complicating matters, Windows 2000 contains 35 million lines of code and requires 64MB to 128MB of memory -- which doesn't make for a nimble consumer operating system, developers note. Trouble at the top Developing Windows 2000 and Windows 9x enhancements aren't Microsoft's only problems. The company's high-end 64-bit development effort also has hit some bumps. Publicly, Microsoft insists it will deliver a 64-bit NT release simultaneously with Intel Corp.'s IA-64 "Merced" processor, which is due out in mid- to late 2000. Microsoft and Intel maintain that the effort is going well. But privately, the "intellectual crossfire" between the two companies is intense, says one developer, who requested anonymity. "We have front-row seats at the fights. The dirty little secret is 32-bit Windows applications won't run as fast on Merced once they are compiled. Microsoft is pissed," he said. Enter Microsoft's Cutler, who heads Microsoft's 64-bit development team. Allchin is counting on Cutler to help Microsoft navigate the 64-bit waves, but it won't be smooth sailing. Cutler, who earlier designed Digital Equipment Corp.'s VMS operating system, is a renegade captain, to put it nicely. He tolerates no fools -- and leaves an e-mail trail laced with profanity to prove it. Cutler has his own ideas of how operating systems are best designed and has no qualms about executing his vision. Sources say Microsoft's Valentine is trying to keep Cutler in check by putting some 64-bit code into Windows 2000. "New cuts of [Windows 2000] Beta 3 have lots of new 64-bit code in them -- like #IFDEF64 conditional compilation statements," said one NT source-code licensee, who requested anonymity. "We hear Valentine said, 'We better bring back Cutler and his 64-bit team from going their own way.'" Translation: Microsoft insiders may be concerned that NT will fragment into two incompatible code bases (Windows 2000 and a 64-bit NT), which would cripple Microsoft's compatibility strategy. Microsoft officials insist the company is on target with its 64-bit plans. Group product manager Ed Muth notes that NT64 will include a 32-bit compatibility subsystem that will allow 32-bit applications to run seamlessly on 64-bit systems. Muth declined to talk about interim builds of Windows 2000 Beta 3. "To the best of my knowledge," he said, Microsoft isn't including any new 64-bit functionality in new beta builds. Whatever the truth, a 64-bit NT, Windows 2000 and NT Consumer remain a long way off. At this point, it's unclear how internal squabbles, executive brain drain and changing development schedules will affect Microsoft's future success. But these storm clouds certainly warrant a close watch. See more Sm@rt Reseller news. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Feb 12 12:19:52 1999