Forecast for Microsoft: Partly Cloudy

Microsoft’s Future, Beyond Windows 7 and the PC – NYTimes.com.

Snip:

In a play for its piece of the cloud, Microsoft plans to release a software platform,Windows Azure, next month that represents its bid to lure businesses with online services. While late to cloud computing in spots and a lackluster participant in the mobile market, Microsoft, Mr. Ozzie says, has a shot at reinventing itself and moving beyond the desktop.

This gives us an opportunity as a software vendor to refresh our value proposition,” he says. “I just think it’s an exciting time for Microsoft.

For many years, Microsoft and its leaders could make sweeping statements like this with little public pushback. Microsoft embodied the technology industry and was the grand arbiter of the tools people used to conduct business and navigate the digital era.

Continues @ http://www.nytimes.com