Last week, I joined 1,500 technology professionals and attended the recent Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) Global Summit in Redmond as a Digital Media MVP, held from September 28 thru October 1, 2005 (http://mvp.support.microsoft.com). This MVP Summit was an opportunity for Microsoft to share its software upgrade plans and get feedback from thousands of Microsoft recognized and awarded MVP’s in areas of expertise that aligns with Microsoft product groups.

While I am under a strict non-disclosure agreement to not discuss the details shared at this summit, I can share my general impression about the direction the company is heading and whether the new software offerings will make a big impact on all Windows PC users in 2006. I do believe that Microsoft will have a successful 2006 and that they will continue to be the largest software share holder in the mobile and desktop computer market.

Technology thought leaders and think tanks have started to project that Microsoft is in a steady decline as open source software and Linux grows in market share. While I can see the viewpoint, what I see is just not pointing to that market outcome in any kind of short time frame. I do see Microsoft struggling to manage its enormous size and complexity. It is a company that tries to be all things to all people and often times is not the innovator that it thinks that it is. The very structure of the company often times keeps its product groups from innovating in the marketplace.

The coming Windows Vista operating system is new in name, but the new Vista user interface design is far from new in the marketplace and once again mirrors the long history of kinship with the Apple OS. Many will view this kinship as a positive development. I see it as a crack in Microsoft dominance and gives Apple and Open Source the opportunity to step in and build market share over time. I think Microsoft needs to really start innovating on the desktop PC again. The major areas of weakness are in the IE browser and Windows media player. I believe that Microsoft has lost significant market and mind share to Mozilla and Apple, respectively.

On a more positive note, I do see some real innovation at Microsoft in the areas of mobile device platforms with Windows Mobile 5.0 and the Tablet PC. These two devices are getting much better every upgrade cycle and I believe that the Windows Mobile platform will be the dominant mobile smart phone operating system in the years to come. I also think that the Tablet PC and Xbox 360 will be high growth areas for Microsoft. I was highly impressed by what I saw with the software in all three of those devices. Microsoft also seems to have new processes in place that will create better quality software and tighter security.

It will be very impressive to watch Microsoft roll out so much new software next year, yet the success that they see could be somewhat muted by a few faster moving online software companies like Google, Yahoo and Java’s Sun Microsystems. But I believe that 2006 will still be a very good year for Microsoft and will be a good time to buy a better and faster Windows Vista 64 bit Notebook or Tablet PC.