• The New York Times, Friday, February 22, 2008 11:15 AM

Microsoft is finally embracing the push towards open software (sort of). In a conference call which failed to mention any progress on the Yahoo front, Microsoft executives unveiled a "strategic shift" in the company's business practices, the broader push of which is to bring Microsoft's flagship products-the Windows OS and Microsoft Office-further into the realm of Web-based computing.

CEO Steve Ballmer said the move was partly to address Microsoft's sticky legal situation with the European Union-EU regulators demanded that Microsoft share technical information about its software with outside developers-but was also about adapting to "the opportunities and risks of a more connected, more services-oriented world."

The first giant step will be putting 30,000 pages of technical documentation about how its Windows and Microsoft server programs communicate-information the company used to regard as a trade secret it licensed out to developers for a hefty fee. Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, said the move would make it easier for writers to create programs that tap into personal information on a PC.

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