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To: Rusty Johnson who wrote (22605)	2/7/1999 11:31:00 AM
From: Islander	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Posted at 08:51 p.m. PST; Sunday, February 7, 1999 Major Organizational Shake-up Imminent at Microsoft by Paul Andrews and Jay Greene Seattle Times technology reporters Microsoft wants to turn the supertanker around again. Worried it is losing steam on the Internet, Microsoft is on the verge of one of the most sweeping organizational shake-ups in its history. Possibly as soon as this week, Microsoft will announce a broad restructuring that will overhaul the software giant's operations and put significantly more focus on the Internet. And the company is calling in its version of the cavalry - Windows 95 and Internet browser king Brad Silverberg - to help make the change. The low-profile Silverberg, 44, led Microsoft's DOS and Windows upgrades through the past decade. Early on, he also pushed for the company to develop Internet software, including its own browser. After a corporate power struggle two years ago, Silverberg took a leave of absence. Many wondered if he would ever return. Today his legions of supporters at Microsoft are pressuring their wiry, bearded leader to come back. "The browser effort was a unique, exciting moment in Microsoft history," said John Ludwig, who reported to Silverberg and now heads one of Microsoft's Internet enterprises. "It would be fun to try to recapture the magic." Microsoft has offered Silverberg oversight of consumer Windows operations and its online businesses. Silverberg declined to discuss the details of the offer last week, saying only that he hadn't made a decision. He is expected to do so soon. Even if he doesn't return, the reorganization will take place, although possibly with different wrinkles. The overhaul would rival Microsoft's 1990 "divorce" with computer giant IBM and its Internet mobilization in 1995 - referred to in industry circles as the time the company turned the supertanker around. The changes come amid a grueling antitrust trial, now in its fourth month, in which Microsoft has endured a series of embarrassing setbacks. The reorganization doesn't appear to be tied to the trial. Microsoft declined to comment on the details of the changes. But sources said Microsoft President Steve Ballmer is driving the reorganization out of concern that the company has drifted from a customer focus and needs to get back to delivering innovative products faster. Insiders also say the company has to make the Microsoft name as important on the Internet as it is on personal computers. Inside the company, workers also feel adrift. Some talk of a company that lacks a companywide vision. Others suggest Microsoft lacks the sort of rallying cry that helped drive the company when it launched Windows 95 and made its initial push onto the Internet. The key change will be to reorganize its business around four customer-focused groups - consumers, corporate customers, home office and telecommuters, and developers (programmers). That would be a big shift from the company's current organization, which runs along technology lines, such as Windows, interactive media, and programming platforms and tools. Perhaps the biggest change, though, will hit Windows 2000, a product the company has said would unite its consumer and corporate businesses. Ballmer has recognized that the oft-delayed operating system, now expected to launch in February 2000, won't work for both segments. Instead, Microsoft will offer separate versions of Windows 2000 for each market. Paul Andrews' phone message number is 206-464-2360. Jay Greene's phone message number is 206-464-3287.