Microsoft Announces Major Restructuring to Compete Against Google: Redmond Giant Awakes from Slumber

As I mentioned yesterday, the delay of Windows Vista is a major negative for Google because Microsoft will be integrating Windows Vista more tighly with Live.com and MSN.

Today Microsoft officially announced at 1 pm ET that it will be realigning its Platforms & Services Division under Kevin Johnson and Jim Allchin. Steve Sinofsky will be running Windows and Windows Live. Brian Valentine will be leading Windows Vista. Blake Irving will be running Live.

Microsoft announced the following:

Microsoft Corp. today announced a broad restructuring of its Platforms & Services Division (PSD) to better align existing Windows® and MSN® assets with Microsoft's overall Live strategy, and to ensure the company delivers a full range of software- based services to consumers and businesses around the world.

The realignment speaks to what I discussed yesterday, which is that Windows Vista will marry the desktop and the online strategy of Microsoft.

"Expect Vista to be tightly integrated with Live.com and MSN and strike Google where it is weakest, which is in the productivity application space. Unlike Google, which has focused on building light weight Internet applications with low barriers to entry, Microsoft will be focused on building rich, Internet productivity applications with significant lead times and high barriers to entry."

Mr Wave Theory