• The New York Times, Wednesday, April 23, 2008 10:30 AM

Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled a data storage and Web software system called Live Mesh that is intended to blur the distinction between software running on the Windows OS and an elaborate array of services that will be delivered to a growing collection of electronic gadgets.

The announcement represents a significant strategic shift for Microsoft, whose operating system helped popularize personal computers. Bill Gates, the company's co-founder, chairman and chief architect, said in an interview on CNN a year ago: "We're making the PC the place where it all comes together."

But a strategy document circulated to company employees on Tuesday that was written by Ray Ozzie, one of the Microsoft's two chief technology officers, countered that view. "The web is the hub of our social mesh and our device mesh," he writes. In taking the PC off center stage, Microsoft is refocusing some of its resources to catch rivals with a head start in "cloud computing."

Read the whole story at The New York Times »