What's really new at the software giant?
It is the biggest question about one of the world's most fascinatingcompanies: has Microsoft changed its ways? After thetrauma of an antitrust conviction in the US, has the famously aggressive software giant turned itself into a kinder, gentler beast? Has Microsoft gone, well, soft?
Yes, if Robert Slater's Microsoft Rebooted is to be believed. According to Slater, Microsoft's sins only ever amounted to a failure to control the excessive zeal that is natural in a start-up. Microsoft executives, tone deaf to the world's changing expectations, simply failed to take heed early enough. This week's decision to pay out $32bn (￡17bn) through a massive dividend to shareholders is the starkest sign yet of how they are adapting to the expectations of others.
The "reboot" described by Slater is as much a revamp of the image as a reworking of Microsoft's basic values.
Where, though, does image end and reality begin?
As this book rightly states, the way Microsoft is seen has become an obsession for the company. Bill Gates, in his diffident video-taped testimony during the US antitrust trial, proved the damage that could be done. Un-compromising intellectual self-assurance was seen as arrogance. But if Microsoft has discovered the importance of image, that calls for extra care in assessing how it is used to influence opinion and in separating fact from perception.
How, then, should you feel about a book that pays am-ple tribute in its acknowledgements to the public relations professionals hired by Microsoft to mould that image? That includes, as its first quote, an assertion from Microsoft's top PR strategist? And that relays, by way of a communications specialist, how a mellower Mr Gates, transformed by fatherhood and new philanthropic pursuits, is happy nowadays to discuss his children rather than business?
Mr Gates and Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive, we are told, spend quality time with their offspring. But does that make them less strident in business?
Nor does the book deal with the central question of whether it is possible to change the culture of a com pany that grew up around the powerful personality of one man.
The uncompromising Mr Gates has taken a lesser role - somewhat reluctantly, to judge by some of his comments in the book - leaving Mr Ballmer to press ahead with changing the way the company does business. But do all Mr Ballmer's exhortations about the need for Microsoft employees to bec-ome more "open and respectful" add up to a new corporate culture?
Certainly, under Mr Ballmer, there have been notable changes. Tying senior executive bonuses to objective measures of customer satisfaction, for instance, shows a real desire for change.
But a full understanding of Microsoft's attempted makeover requires a deeper analysis of what is going on in the technology world than this book attempts.
As long as the PC remained the centre of the tech universe, Microsoft could lord it over competitors and customers alike. But a new era calls for a new approach - particularly when the Linux open-source computer operating system is gaining ground.
To Microsoft's traditional rivals in Silicon Valley, needless to say, not much has really changed. Even the company's decision to bury the hatchet with old adversaries amounts to little more than an attempt to silence critics. And nagging doubts persist about the depth of Microsoft's commitment to supporting technology standards from which all benefit, particularly when its PC fortune was built on being the standard.
According to this view, Mr Gates, as the company's chief software architect, is still calling the shots behind the scenes. The game is still all about global domination - only these days it pays to be out of the public eye.
That may be too paranoid a view of the world's most powerful software company. But, to a greater extent than this book makes clear, the rebooting of Microsoft is really about how a company that grew strong on a monopoly is learning to live - and exert its influence - in a more competitive arena.
If this means Microsoft is adapting to survive, that represents a significant change in itself. Not many tech companies have been able to maintain their winning streak when the rules of the game have changed.
Only, don't expect the biggest bully in the schoolyard to always play nice.
微软改性子了吗？
比尔?盖茨(Bill Gates)正日益老成持重起来，但他想知道，作为全球实力最强、也最富吸引力的软件公司，微软(Microsoft)的基本价值观是否已经发生变化？最大的疑问是：微软是否已改变了它的经营模式？
在受到美国反垄断案裁决的重创后，这个以侵略性很强著称的软件业巨兽，是否已变得温和了一点？仁慈了一点？或者这么说，微软是否真的变得“软”了一点？
答案是“是的”，如果我们相信罗伯特?斯莱特(Robert Slater)所著的《微软重启》(Microsoft Rebooted)一书的话。斯莱特认为，微软的过失只是未能控制住自己过度的激情，而这种激情对于一个新起步的创业公司来说，是很自然的事情。微软的高层领导对全世界的期待都置若罔闻，结果失去了及早采取谨慎态度的机会。
这使得斯莱特所说的“重启”(“reboot”)，看起来既象是对微软形象的修补，又象是对其基本价值观的重塑。
可是，公司形象在哪里结束，而现实又从哪里开始呢？
正如书中所言，微软在公众心目中的形象已对公司形成困扰。从录像带中看，比尔?盖茨在美国反垄断案中出庭做证时的证词显得缺乏信心，这证明微软形象可能已经受损。知识分子不愿妥协的自信被视为傲慢自大。但如果微软已经意识到公司形象的重要，那么在评估如何利用它去影响舆论，并将事实和感受分开时，就需要格外注意。
那么，你应该怎样看待这样一本在致谢中对微软请来重塑企业形象的公关专业人士推崇备至的书？致谢部分包括来自微软首席公关战略家的一份声明(也是全文的第一次引用)？随后通过一名传播专员传递出这样一条信息，即父亲的身份和新的慈善事业已使盖茨先生变得更为成熟稳重。现在，他更乐意谈论的是他的孩子，而不是事业？
我们听说，盖茨先生和微软首席执行官斯蒂夫?鲍尔默(Steve Ballmer)在他们的子女身上投入了不少宝贵的时间，但是，难道这就使他们在工作中多了一份温情？
这本书也没有涉及一个核心问题，即微软在很大程度上是围绕着一个个性极强的人成长起来的公司，要改变它的企业文化是否可能？
从盖茨先生在书中的一些评论来看，一向不愿妥协的他现在有点不太情愿地扮演着一个相对次要的角色，而让鲍尔默先生这位天生的推销员在改变公司经营模式的道路上独自迈进。但是，鲍尔默先生对于微软员工必须更加“开放和尊重他人”的劝诫，能树立起一种全新的企业文化吗？
当然，在鲍尔默先生的领导下，微软发生了显著的变化。例如，将高级管理人员的奖金与顾客满意度的客观衡量标准相挂钩，反应出公司真切的求变愿望。
但是，要全面了解微软这次改头换面的尝试，需要比该书更加深入地分析在技术世界里所发生的一切。
只要个人计算机仍是技术世界的中心，微软就能继续在竞争对手和顾客面前逞威风。但新的时代呼唤新的方式，尤其是在当前Linux开放源代码的计算机操作系统正越来越普及的时候。
毋庸讳言，对微软在硅谷的传统竞争对手而言，微软的变化并不大。即使是公司决定与过去那些老对手停止争斗，并在最近几个月里达成了一连串的法律协议，也无非是为了堵住评论家的嘴而已。而且，外界一直怀疑，微软究竟有多大决心向所有公司都能受益的技术标准提供支持，特别是在它的个人计算机命运取决于它能否成为行业标准的时候。这样的质疑声从未停止过。
由此看来，作为公司首席软件设计师的盖茨先生，仍躲在幕后运筹帷幄。这仍是一场抢占全球市场的游戏，只是在眼下，必须要远离公众的目光才能有所收获。
如此看待这个全球实力最强的软件公司，可能过于偏执了。但如果看得比这本书还远，微软重启的真正含义在于，一个依靠垄断壮大起来的公司，正在学习如何在一个竞争更为激烈的环境中生存下去，并发挥自己的影响力。
如果这意味着微软正在学习“适者生存”的道理，那就显示出它自身的一个重大改变。许多技术公司在游戏规则发生改变后，都无法继续保持胜利的势头。
只是，不要指望学校里最能以大欺小的那个人会一直对人彬彬有礼。
