A. About three years ago we created a business group alignment for every one of our business groups. We have someone that runs our information worker business here in Canada'and they are a direct link to the [information worker business group] in Redmond. Their job is to take what's coming out of Redmond and localize it, but there's a clear bi-directional loop. We define requirements that are necessary at every stage of product development, and we're making sure Microsoft Canada has a voice.

Q. It is looking like Office 2007 is making a philosophical shift to be more of a collaborative environment rather than just a suite of applications. What will this mean for enterprise users?

A. It's a much more integrated world. Work groups don't span cubes anymore; they sometimes span time zones and even continents. I may be traveling on a plane having previously synched my laptop so I can work on a document, land, post it to SharePoint Portal Server'then I get a workgroup collaborating on that (document), and when we're done I (want to) publish it'so I need the HTML or XML capability integrated. It's on the standards level that we need greater integration. It's the ability to work and how we work with other tools in an interconnected world. It's how we publish to another person, all in a more efficient and productive way.

Q. There's been some loose release dates thrown around for Windows Vista. Given Microsoft's bumpy record on meeting release date commitments, what confidence can you give our likely skeptical readers?

A. We don't quote release dates because it's really important that we don't dictate the schedule with a release date commitment and instead focus on making sure the product is reliable, available and secure. We have to make sure the product is ready and has been tested and we can't shorten that software development cycle at any stage. I think our customers want us to do our due diligence'and release a secure product that meets their expectations rather than meet a commitment to a ship date. We have to be a company that stands behind our technology'and part of [that] is being willing to stand up and say 'it's not ready' and whatever consequences that may have for us in the marketplace we have to stand behind it.