For Microsoft, 2006 may have started off as a casual walk in the park, but it ended as a sprint to the finish line.
Over the year the company faced product delays and the resultant unhappy partner and developer ecosystems, as well as a change in leadership at the very top, with Bill Gates announcing his intention to spend more time working at his charitable foundation.
Is Microsoft ready for Gates' transition? Click here to read more.
Jim Allchin, who has led Windows' product development for the past 15 years, will retire as soon as Windows Vista ships to consumers, with Steven Sinofsky, who headed the Office team, given broad responsibility for planning future versions of Windows.
The software maker also made some half-hearted attempts to be clearer about its software-as-a-service vision, which is being led by Ray Ozzie, Gates' replacement as chief software architect.
But Ozzie has been laying low for the past few months, with rumors and speculation about the future of that vision taking center stage while he and other Microsoft executives remain strangely quiet on that front.
Read the full story on eWeek: For Microsoft, 2006 Ends as a Sprint to the Finish Line
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