Ozzie urges Microsoft to simplify, move to cloud

"Doomsday-ish" clarion call implores Microsoft to further embrace cloud computing or face irrelevancy

By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
November 09, 2010 11:32 AM ET

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Departing Microsoft Corp. executive Ray Ozzie is leaving behind a new five-year plan that exhorts the company to push further into the cloud -- or perish.

The so-called Dawn of a New Day memorandum written by Ozzie, who succeeded Bill Gates as Microsoft's chief software architect in 2006, urges the company to imagine a world where the PC is replaced by a slew of simple, low-cost devices that are constantly connected to the Internet and through that to cloud-based services.

The memo was posted on Ozzie's personal blog site shortly after Microsoft's Oct. 18 announcement that the creator of Lotus Notes planned to retire soon.

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