Vista - 'When Windows is executing well, Microsoft is in good shape.'

So much for the repeated attempts by Microsoft brass to try to keep in check investors’ expectations around Windows 7’s impact on the market.
On September 15, Charles Songhurst, a Microsoft General Manager of Corporate Strategy, couldn’t have done more to tout the potential impact of Microsoft’s new operating system. Songhurst was bullish not just on Microsoft’s prospects, but on those of the larger PC industry’s, too, in spite of the Microsoft brass’ continued bearishness about the state of the global economy.
Songhurst — who works closely with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell on charting Microsoft’s mergers, acquisitions and strategic investments — spoke at the Jefferies Annual Technology Confernce on September 15. While he totally sidestepped a number of analyst questions, including ones on Office 2010 and Microsoft’s long-range view on server virtualization, he responded with unusual candor (for a Microsoft exec) to many others.