• Financial Times, Monday, January 29, 2007 11:17 AM

When Microsoft unveils Windows Vista tonight at midnight, it will be a defining moment for the software provider, possibly the end of an era. The software biz is going through an undeniable change, moving more towards a Web-based future.

However, Michael Cusumano, an MIT professor, says the likely change is due more to the "trauma" suffered by Microsoft in producing this latest iteration of Microsoft Windows, the company's biggest moneymaker. Indeed, the company's new mantra, as outlined by Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie in late 2005, is software services delivered via the Web, stored on the company's own servers a la Google.

Despite Microsoft's struggle to make Windows Live stick, Live represents the company's future, analysts say. The pressure to change will be felt first with Office, they say, as Google and others offer free, Web-based versions. Nevertheless, Vista is expected to represent another powerful software cycle for the tech giant, especially as consumers and businesses trade in their old PCs and laptops for new ones, which will be bundled with Vista.

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