"Ballmer's designs on McGregor did not include firing him, because Gates worried that if McGregor left the project midstream, the press would find out and flame Microsoft in the papers. Gates begged him to stay for the "good of the project," just as long as he wasn't in charge of the project. Gates told McGregor he'd pay his full salary, and McGregor could do whatever he wanted. Gates would call McGregor an architect, which was the hip word at Microsoft, so long as he stayed at the company until Windows shipped. McGregor left anyway. His attitude was, essentially, "Screw that. I'm not going to stay around and do nothing while you guys use me and mess up my project." McGregor was told he could pick up his things in the parking garage the next day, and Ballmer physically moved into his office."

--Barbarians Led by Bill Gates, a book composed
by the daughter of Microsoft's PR mogul

Summary: Unrest inside Microsoft's management and more information about Bill Gates' role in Corbis fraud

What’s next for Microsoft? That's a good question. At present, Microsoft has a lot to worry about, especially because its future seems not so bright. The companies' big guns are reportedly plotting to overthrow Steve Ballmer, as shareholders did last year.

Senior Microsoft executives, disenchanted with the company's stagnant stock, have been secretly discussing how to kick Chief Steve Ballmer, and maybe the board, to the curb.

Ballmer's predecessor, Bill Gates, is still making headlines because of fraud (we covered it earlier this week), so now is not a good time to speak about his potential Steve Jobs-like return as CEO. To quote another page, "On February 16, 2006, a meeting was held with Bill Gates and senior Corbis executives including Steve Davis (former CEO), Gary Shenk (CEO), Sue McDonald (former CFO/COO) and Jim Mitchell (General Counsel) to discuss, among other things, certain software development by Corbis. InfoFlows’ CEO Steve Stone was at this meeting, but he was unaware and was not told that Corbis had already filed a patent application, nor was he aware that Corbis executives had contemporaneously prepared materials for Bill Gates that identified the non-public patent application as a “growth opportunity” for Corbis."

Amid this identity crisis Microsoft is trying to reinvent itself with branding, just like Vista 7 was a rebranding job.

"Microsoft Rebranding Itself To Be What’s Next," according to this report and Glyn Moody remarks: "as in "has-been"?"

Microsoft’s annual event for employees – MGX is currently underway and according to Engadget Microsoft has unveiled a new tagline.

The tagline "What’s Next" truly begs for punchlines.

"Microsoft hired kindergardeners for their logo design team," Ziomatrix remarked, but Engadget points out that the new logos are not real, just the tagline.

What’s next for Microsoft? Maybe a financial blunder. Microsoft's debt is growing. ⬆