Craig Mundie on life at Microsoft after Bill Gates

As Bill Gates transitions out of a day-to-day role by 2008, Ray Ozzie
(founder of Lotus Notes and Groove Virtual Office) has assumed the title of chief software architect (Gates' earlier designation) and Craig Mundie has taken the new title of chief research and strategy officer. Steve Ballmer continues as CEO.

"Bill isn't leaving the company and certainly won't be silent about his
beliefs (referring to the Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation) even as he
transits to working full-time for the foundation," said Redmond-based Mundie in a telephonic chat, adding "Microsoft will continue to look at ways in which IT - and software in particular - can help the education sector on a global basis".

Referrring to Microsoft's new directions, Mundie highlighted the company's just-unveiled Unified Communications Product (UCP) roadmap which promises to deliver an enterprise communications' solution that unifies voice, conferencing, instant messaging and collaboration. In an executive email on June 26 this year, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates stated that unified communications technologies would eliminate the barriers between communications modes - email, voice, Web conferencing and more.

Speaking about growth, he insisted that despite Microsoft's "seemingly-low" revenue growth of about eight per cent last year, "it still amounts to $3-4 billion which represents a very large growth compared to other companies (and yes, we were discussing the competition from Google). Google has done a great job in search and advertising models. We are investing heavily in these areas." He emphasises, though, that "Microsoft is a much larger and older company. We are leaders in areas like small businesses, software development, media-centre capabilities and cellphone platforms where Groove is not present".

Mundie - who also guides Microsoft's intellectual property (where Gates was the final decision-maker till now) and technology policy efforts (his
current role includes all the responsibilities he held as Microsoft CTO
too) - also highlighted three areas that would influence enterprises in a
5-10 year time frame. "These comprise architectural changes to the
microprocessor that will undergo a revolution; the continuing evolution of
wireless which will enable low-cost computing in countries like India; and
computer user interfaces will get better and simpler enabling humans to
interact more meaningfully with machines," said Mundie.

"India is our newest youngster. Our presence in India is small, but
growing," he said, speaking about Microsoft's involvement in the
Asia-Pacific region. "We are very pleased with our growth in China and
India. There is a significant opportunity for further growth given our
online service and development capabilities and new products like Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and cellphones which are greenfield markets," he said.

Finally, no discussion with Microsoft can end without referring to the
perceived threat from the "open source" movement. Mundie asserts: "If you are referring to standards, then Microsoft is very aggressive in this area. Not only do we support standards but in most cases create them too." As for software becoming 'free' some day, Mundie is emphatic that "it will never happen".