Microsoft Office 2007 Beyond Bach's departure Wha

Most Microsoft watchers are centered on the depatures of President Robbie Bach and Chief Expertise Officer J Allard that had been announced on May possibly 25 by CEO Steve Ballmer as part of the huge reorg at Microsoft.But there had been another moves that had been part of right now;s announcement that are finding much less scrutiny but shouldn;t be ignored. These incorporate:one. Windows Web Solutions is born. Antoine Leblond, who has been Senior Vice President with the Workplace Productivity Programs Group, is shifting to a new role: Senior Vice President for the Windows Web Solutions team. What exactly is Windows Web Services? Superior question. CEO Steve Ballmer;s e-mail describes it as “integral Windows solutions that right now deliver updates, options,Office 2010 Home And Business Key, community and depth information for your Windows consumer.” Leblond will be reporting directly to Windows/Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky. However, Windows Internet Services has nothing to do with Windows Live,Microsoft Office Standard 2010, the Softies say.2. Office gets a brand new engineering chief. Kurt DelBene, Senior Vice President of the Office Business Productivity Group,Microsoft Office 2007, is now head of all of the engineering responsibilities for that Workplace business.3. Former Live Platform Solutions head David Treadwell moves out with the Windows division and into the Interactive Entertainment Business (the part of Microsoft that oversees Xbox and video games). So what does this mean for the increasingly invisible Windows Live Platform for developers? A Microsoft spokesperson said the Live Platform is still about and under Corporate Vice President Chris Jones. But it;s been a long,Office 2007 Pro, long time since Microsoft has shared any information about what;s going on for developers around the Windows Live front….4. Ballmer;s decision not to replace Bach has a precedent. Remember when former Windows Platform and Solutions Kevin Johnson quit in 2008 to join Juniper Networks? Ballmer had Windows and online solutions report directly to him for a while in order to try to get those houses in order. Seems like he;s doing the same with gaming and mobile with nowadays;s reorg. (At some point I bet he;ll appoint a new Mobile President. We;ll see,Microsoft Office 2007, though….)5. The Mac Business Unit (MacBU) is being moved into the Microsoft Business Division as part of nowadays;s moves, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed. I also asked what;s happening with the Surface crew; no word back so far. The spokesperson said that the Specialized Devices and Applications staff under Rusty Jeffress — which is where MacBU, Embedded, Auto, Surface and Hardware — will continue to operate under Bach until his transition period ends this fall. Where these other teams will move after that is TBD (to be determined), the spokesperson added.6. Mindy Mount is now the Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Microsoft;s Online Providers Division. Until right now, she was CVP and CFO of the Entertainment and Devices Division.Reactions to the news about Bach and Allard leaving are mixed. Some seem to see the move as the beginning with the end for Microsoft in the entertainment/consumer space. Others — including the anonymous Microsoft blogger Who;da Punk (a k a Mini Microsoft) — see the changes as positive.I have to say I;m more in the latter camp: I think the Entertainment and Devices division needed a shaking up. I;m just not 100 percent convinced that Ballmer is the proper guy to be leading the mobile and gaming charge. What;s your reaction to right now;s news?