Second, Amitabh Srivastava, head of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform business, announced that he’s leaving the company. Srivastava, who joined Microsoft in 1997, was widely considered to be a possible successor to Muglia, but lost out to Nadella.

One of the few ever to be named a Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft–an honor now known as Technical Fellow–he was tapped, along with Brian Valentine, by then Windows chief Jim Allchin to take over the Windows engineering efforts in 2003 at a time when the operating system was being widely derided as plagued with security and other problems. Srivastava had his team draw up a map depicting how all the various pieces of the Windows source fit together. It was eight feet tall, 11 feet wide, and was described in a 2005 Wall Street Journal story as looking like a “haphazard train map with hundreds of tracks crisscrossing each other.”

Srivastava and Valentine are credited with the 2004 proposal to streamline how all those pieces functioned, a plan that would allow various features to be added or removed without disrupting the whole operating system. The idea was a partial response to the looming threat from Google, which that year had launched Gmail. The problem was their plan required throwing out a lot of legacy source code that had been in Windows for years, and starting fresh.

Srivastava’s changes included automating testing on features that had for years been done by hand. Code with too many bugs were sent to “code jail.” Over time, code flowing into what was to become Windows Vista improved.

We all know what happened with Vista–it too was widely panned. But the engineering processes put in place had a lot to do with the many improvements that appeared in Windows 7.

Srivastava then moved on to a new Microsoft project in 2006, code named Red Dog, now known as Azure, which launched in 2008. From this he pivoted to running the server and cloud division, overseeing Microsoft’s relationships with enterprise and data center customers.

People I’ve been talking to who tend to know a lot about the internal politics at Microsoft say this isn’t the last of the changes. Now that Muglia’s replacement has been announced, Nadella is going to want to name key members for his team, which means that those not tapped will probably choose to leave as well. The management shake-up at Microsoft is not over yet.

Srivastava has a Ph.D. in computer science from Penn State, and was invited to deliver the commencement address at the school’s College of Engineering in 2008, which is in the video below. Key quote: “In the end, it’s all about execution.”

Now comes news of another exchange, this one in 2003, in which Allchin, Bill Gates and a handful of other Microsoft (MSFT) execs react to the the debut of Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes music store and wonder how the company managed to negotiate such a good licensing deal with the recording industry.

Interesting to consider in light of reports that Apple is in talks with the television networks about lowering the price of iTunes TV episodes ahead of the iPad’s official launch.

—– Original Message —–
From: Bill Gates
Sent: Wed 4/30/2003 10:46 PM
To: Amir Majidimehr; Dave Fester
Cc: Will Poole; Christopher Payne; Yusuf Mehdi; David Cole; Hank Vigil

Subject: Apple’s Jobs again.., and time to have a great Windows download service…

Steve Jobs ability to focus in on a few things that count, get people who get user interface right and market things as revolutionary are amazing things. This time somehow he has applied his talents in getting a better Licensing deal than anyone else has gotten for music.

This is very strange to me. The music companies own operations offer a service that is truly unfriendly to the user and has been reviewed that way consistently. Somehow they decide to give Apple the ability to do something pretty good.

I remember discussing EMusic and us saying that model was better than subscription because you would know what you are getting. With the subscription who can promise you that the cool new stuff you want (or old stuff) will be there?

I am not saying this strangeness means we messed up – at least if we did so did Real and Pressplay and Musicnet and basically everyone else.

Now that Jobs has done it we need to move fast to get something where the UI and Rights are as good. I am not sure whether we should do this through one of these JVs or not. I am not sure what the problems are. However I think we need some plan to prove that even though Jobs has us a bit flat footed again we move quick and both match and do stuff better. I’m sure people have a lot of thoughts on this. If the plan is clear no meeting is needed. I want to make sure we are coordinated between Windows DMD, MSN and other groups.

…. Original Message ….
From: Jim Allchin
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 4:58 PM
To: Amir Majidimehr; Chris Jones (WINDOWS); Will Poole; David Cole

Subject: Apple’s music store

1. How did they get the music companies to go along?
2. We were smoked.

jim

That’s some heavy rhetoric. Certainly, it’s representative of the distaste with which Microsoft (MSFT) has viewed Linux and Linux vendors like Novell (NOVL) for the past decade.

So to hear back in Nov. 2006 that Microsoft was partnering with Novell to offer sales support for Novell’s SUSE Linux and cooperate with its old rival on Linux-Windows interoperability was astonishing–a bit like discovering that Stalin really sent Trotsky to Mexico for a nice vacation or that Itchy has shacked up with Scratchy.

And the unlikely partnership continues to astonish to this day. On Wednesday, the two companies expanded their interoperability agreement, with Microsoft agreeing to buy and resell up to $100 million in enterprise support subscriptions for Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server OS. That’s in addition to the $240 million Microsoft has already agreed to buy.

Odd, isn’t it, to see Microsoft marketing Linux like this? Odder still, to see Novell in an alliance with the company that hoped to “slaughter” it. So why did Novell agree to it? “Novell’s benefit is obvious, if not self-destructive,” Joe Wilcox explains over at Microsoft Watch. “The deal allows Novell to exist in the shadow of Windows Server, sustaining on its table scraps. Microsoft can offer customers that simply must have some Linux servers a sanctioned source for good tools ensuring interoperability with Windows Server.”

That’s some heavy rhetoric. Certainly, it’s representative of the distaste with which Microsoft (MSFT) has viewed Linux and Linux vendors like Novell (NOVL) for the past decade.

So to hear back in Nov. 2006 that Microsoft was partnering with Novell to offer sales support for Novell’s SUSE Linux and cooperate with its old rival on Linux-Windows interoperability was astonishing–a bit like discovering that Stalin really sent Trotsky to Mexico for a nice vacation or that Itchy has shacked up with Scratchy.

And the unlikely partnership continues to astonish to this day. On Wednesday, the two companies expanded their interoperability agreement, with Microsoft agreeing to buy and resell up to $100 million in enterprise support subscriptions for Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server OS. That’s in addition to the $240 million Microsoft has already agreed to buy.

Odd, isn’t it, to see Microsoft marketing Linux like this? Odder still, to see Novell in an alliance with the company that hoped to “slaughter” it. So why did Novell agree to it? “Novell’s benefit is obvious, if not self-destructive,” Joe Wilcox explains over at Microsoft Watch. “The deal allows Novell to exist in the shadow of Windows Server, sustaining on its table scraps. Microsoft can offer customers that simply must have some Linux servers a sanctioned source for good tools ensuring interoperability with Windows Server.”

“This isn’t a matter of dissing Microsoft, but Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista,” a person with direct knowledge of the company’s plans told the New York Times.

Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista. If that’s not a diss, then neither is “Windows Vista sucks.” Because if one half of the Wintel hegemony is balking at deploying the latest iteration of the OS on which it’s built, well that’s pretty ugly.

“I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft,” longtime Windows development chief Jim Allchin said in January of 2004. And so too, perhaps, would Intel, if it wasn’t partners with the company.

I am not sure how the company lost sight of what matters to our customers (both business and home) the most, but in my view we lost our way. I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems [our] customers face are. I see lots of random features and some great vision, but that doesn’t translate into great products.

“I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft.”

–Longtime Windows development chief Jim Allchin, Jan. 7, 2004

Allchin wrote that message four years ago, and when it was made public as part of one of Microsoft’s (MSFT) ongoing lawsuits, he claimed he’d written it to be purposefully dramatic. And perhaps that was the case.

Still, it’s hard not to look at the middling, unenthusiastic reviews given the company’s long-delayed Windows Vista OS and think that maybe he was just being honest. Hard, too, not to look at the company’s unexpected (some feel unprecedented) decision to slash the retail price of Vista to spur sales–and conclude that maybe a lot of consumers feel the same way.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced plans to lower OS’s retail price in advance of if its first major update, Service Pack 1 (SP1). The price cuts vary by market, but in general will range from 20% to 40%. In the states, for example, the price of Vista Ultimate will drop to $219 from $299, Vista Home Premium to $129, from $159–substantial cuts, and ones Microsoft hopes will broaden Vista’s appeal.

“Windows Vista has been on the market for more than a year now, with more than 100 million licenses sold in its first year,” Windows consumer marketing Vice President Brad Brooks explained. “While this is great progress … we’ve observed market behavior that suggests an opportunity to expand Windows stand-alone sales to other segments of the consumer market. Over the past year, we conducted promotions in several different markets combining various marketing tactics with lower price points on different stand-alone versions of Windows Vista. While the promotions varied region to region, one constant emerged–an increase in demand among consumers that went beyond tech enthusiasts and build-it-yourself types.”

Analysts, while taken aback by the price cut, seemed to think it a savvy one. “I think this is a smart strategic move,” said NPD Group Inc.’s Chris Swenson. “Vista hasn’t hit their initial expectations.” That said, Swenson doubts the price cut will have Vista flying off the shelves. Microsoft “really wants to help spark Vista sales, though I don’t see it taking off like a rocket like the way Office did after its price was cut.”

I am not sure how the company lost sight of what matters to our customers (both business and home) the most, but in my view we lost our way. I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems [our] customers face are. I see lots of random features and some great vision, but that doesn’t translate into great products.

“I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft.”

–Longtime Windows development chief Jim Allchin, Jan. 7, 2004

Allchin wrote that message four years ago, and when it was made public as part of one of Microsoft’s (MSFT) ongoing lawsuits, he claimed he’d written it to be purposefully dramatic. And perhaps that was the case.

Still, it’s hard not to look at the middling, unenthusiastic reviews given the company’s long-delayed Windows Vista OS and think that maybe he was just being honest. Hard, too, not to look at the company’s unexpected (some feel unprecedented) decision to slash the retail price of Vista to spur sales–and conclude that maybe a lot of consumers feel the same way.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced plans to lower OS’s retail price in advance of if its first major update, Service Pack 1 (SP1). The price cuts vary by market, but in general will range from 20% to 40%. In the states, for example, the price of Vista Ultimate will drop to $219 from $299, Vista Home Premium to $129, from $159–substantial cuts, and ones Microsoft hopes will broaden Vista’s appeal.

“Windows Vista has been on the market for more than a year now, with more than 100 million licenses sold in its first year,” Windows consumer marketing Vice President Brad Brooks explained. “While this is great progress … we’ve observed market behavior that suggests an opportunity to expand Windows stand-alone sales to other segments of the consumer market. Over the past year, we conducted promotions in several different markets combining various marketing tactics with lower price points on different stand-alone versions of Windows Vista. While the promotions varied region to region, one constant emerged–an increase in demand among consumers that went beyond tech enthusiasts and build-it-yourself types.”

Analysts, while taken aback by the price cut, seemed to think it a savvy one. “I think this is a smart strategic move,” said NPD Group Inc.’s Chris Swenson. “Vista hasn’t hit their initial expectations.” That said, Swenson doubts the price cut will have Vista flying off the shelves. Microsoft “really wants to help spark Vista sales, though I don’t see it taking off like a rocket like the way Office did after its price was cut.”