A former Microsoft Corp manager who worked on efforts to compete with the Linux operating system said in a letter to the software maker that the company must innovate or face poor growth.
"To continue leading the pack, Microsoft must innovate quickly. If the [personal computer] is all the future holds, then growth prospects are weak," wrote David Stutz in an essay posted on his Web site.
Stutz said the essay is a version of what he wrote in his resignation letter when he left the US-based software giant on Feb. 7.
Microsoft, which reported average annual sales gains of 38 percent in the 1990s, is facing slowing demand for its PC software. In the year ended June 30, sales rose 12 percent. The company is also fighting the growth of the Linux operating system as an alternative to its Windows program for running server computers.
"David Stutz has been an important contributor to Microsoft's open-source thinking and we agree with much of the vision he has for the future," Microsoft spokeswoman Alex Mercer said. "We are in a great position to lead in the delivery of innovative products."
Stutz, who worked on technical strategy as well as a Microsoft program to compete with Linux by giving certain partners, customers, governments and institutions access to Microsoft's programming code, said Microsoft is trying to "prop up" its "PC franchise" instead of working on networked software to connect hardware and applications.
Instead customers are buying so-called open-source software for that purpose. Open-source products such as the Linux operating system allow customers and developers to freely modify the programs.
Stutz, who also worked in Microsoft's research group, also complained that Microsoft is building products such as Windows and the Office suite of programs that require companies to pay for many features and programs they don't want. Instead, customers will look to free software that gives them just what they need.
"Digging in against open source commoditization won't work," he wrote. "It would be like digging in against the Internet, which Microsoft tried for a while before getting wise."
Shares of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft fell US$0.43 to US$24.53 as of 4pm New York time in NASDAQ Stock Market trading yesterday.
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