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Code Red ,
. ,

Battling Google, Microsoft

Changes How It Builds Software
Delay in NewWindows Version
Drove Giant to Develop'
.Simpler, Flexible Product,

Engineers Get Trip to 'Bug Jail' j

By RoBERTA. GUTH i
REDMOND, Wash.-Jim .A11chin,a
senior Microsoft Corp. executive,
walked into Bill Gates's office here one
i day in July last year to deliver a bomb-'
,1 shell about the next generation of Mi-
.
,
, crosoftWindows. ".

"It's not going to work," Mr. Allchin. ,

'.

.1
. says he told the Microsoft chairman. The
I . .new version, code-
J named Longhorn,
I was so complexits
! writerswouldnever
' ' be able to make it
run properly. provedversions. . .
. The news got Microsoft can't entirely replicate that
even worse: Long. approach;sinceWindowsis byits naturea
.
m~v' p",,,,am o_",'ng <Illof ~com-
~
1.. horn WIISIrrede"'!-
able because Ml- puter's functions;Butlt ISnowracmg to
1 crosoft engineers. moveinthatdirectipn:develoning
a solid
f werebuildingit just. .coreforWindowsontowIDchnewfeatures
\ as theyhad always c~Qded onphy oneovertim~.
t. built software. " As always,Microsoft'sgreat fear is !
Jim Allchin Throughoutits his- that it will lose its near~monopolyon
, . tory, Microsofthad computer operating systems and b!J,sic
letthousands of programmers each pro- office software. In the short term, there h
duce their own piece of computer code, is little, danger ofthaLBlit the more
then stitched it together into one sprawl- Google and other software makers en-
ingprogram. Now,Mr.Allchin argued, the' croach on MiCrosoft's turf, the greater .
jig was up. Microsoft needed to start OVer. the chance that someday' computer us-
Mr. Gates resisted at first, pushing for ers will wake up and find Microsoft Win- ,.'"
Mr. AllChin'sgrollPto take more time untildows superfluous. ~,~.
. everything worked. Over the nex,tfew
months, Mr. Allchinand his deputies ~
."Whathappened when"theAmerican
car companies failed to update their manu-
,:;'""
~:.
il also face protests from pro~ammers who factiIring lines? There was a,more effi-
com lainedhewas . to 00 sebiIreau- cient-way to Qring cars~to market for a
cracy and rob Microsoft of its creatiVl. lower price arid they 198ttheirrnJ;L~ket," I
," er meangs yeverybody," "says Microsoft .Vice President"Chris
says Mr; Gates of the period. '~Ies obvi-. Jones.j'WereinaIi~tle bit<,>f.~,9iff~teIltjh- ' I
ously my role to ask people, 'Hey,let' s not' dustrY"b\lt it); -t]:).es.ame-tl;tini;;'!t<'/ ,.d I
throwthings outwe shoul4n'tthrow out. . Microsoft's.holy ,graihi~'I:.tj;'sy~tei:n,!
Let'skeepthingsillthat Wecankeepin.' " t]:).atcranks out a new,generallybugc
Ultimately, Mr. Allchin's wa:rn~ng freeversionof'basic WindoWS'evel'Y
provedcatharticandledtowhathe andoth- .few years: with frequent updates in' be-
ers cali a transformation in,Microsoft's tween toaddeIlhanceIhents or match a
. most important product. Akey reason : the competitor's offering.
growing threat from rivals such as Google T~e.Longl:).orncrisis help,sexplain the
, Inc., Apple Computer Inc. aildwakersQf sweeping restructuring that, Micrdsoft
the free Linux operating sYstem. In recentChielExecutive Steve Ballmer an.nounced
'i;,-yearstl1es~<:ompanie~h~yebeell dashing tl!i~fWeekto.Qrganize
the companyinto I;
thap~
:01l1sQfif.fso~tWarelnnovati()ns'fa~ter
ema'orQi,J,sinessunits.A e-'- oaItS'to
'.

~J~~t~!t~~~lJ~~::i?4'- ',. ,.'.'...gf~:~

c:~UCiI1g: '. '" "o:',Z~;~o-
suell as email and i~stailt messagIDgo,ver Mr;. ,'.' . "-ess-j{~f~~~ '
the Internet, watchinghowthey perform .lem datmg to Microsoft's beginnlngs.
and regillarly replacing tl1:em~fu im- . ~I.caseTurn to PageAl,1l,columrn
 --------

A14 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2005 THE WALL STRE

i
~
I
. Code Red: Battling Google, Microsof!I
ContinuedFrom First Page started appearing in presentations and code. The new Longhorn would have to
Old-school computer science called for offices. ' be simple. It would leave bells and whis-
methodical coding practices to ensure And Microsoft's culture was facing a tles for later-including Mr. Gates's
that the large computers used by banks, new threat. The mass of 'patches and WinFS, Messrs. Srivastava and. Allchin
governments and scientists wouldn't agglomerations that made, up Windows say.
break. But as personal computers took turned it into an e~y target for viruses Mr. Allchin signed on to the plan and
off in the 1980s, cOIJIpanies like Mi- and other Web-based attacks. Mr. AI- broke the news to Messrs. Gates and Ball-
crosoft didn't have time for that. PC Ichin had to divert top engineers into mer. Mr. Allchin remembers .that Mr.
users wanted cool and' useful features the effort to fix security problems in Gates pushed him to keep going with the
existing versions of Windows. "The ship I
quickly. Ther tolerated-or didn't notice- original plan, saying if the software writ-
~e bue-s ndQIing- the software. Prob- was just crashing to the ground," Mr. ers needed more time Microsoft could
lems could. always be patched over. Allchin says. ship a scaled-down version of Longhorn I
With each patch and enhancement, it In late 2003, Mr. Allchin called on in the interim. The executives agreed to
became harder to strap new features the help of two men. The first was one reserve a final deci-
onto the sOItWare smce new code could of Microsoft) best-known. "shippers," sion until Mr. Ball-
affect everything else m unpredIct[!jle people known for their ability to turn mer returned from I
ways. around troubled software projects. Win- a business trip, ac-
The 53-year-old Mr. Allchin, who dows veteran Brian Valentine had a rep- cording to Mr. AI- I
joined Microsoft in 1990 and is now co- utation for booming motivational Ichin and Mr. Valen-
head of the Platform Products and Ser- speeches, beer bashes and stUnts like tine, who was also
vices Division, says he always dis- showing up to work functions as Elvis, present.
dained the fast-and-Ioose culture of PC the Easter Bunny or even once' a hula Over the next
software. The holder of a doctorate in girl with a coconut bra. few weeks, Mr.
i computer science, Mr. Allchin craved The second man Mr. Allchin tapped Gates expressed
i discipline in code writing. .But in the was Amitabh Srivastava, now 49, a fel- frustration. In meet-
I
I booming 1990s, when it seemed Mi- low purist among computer scientists. A. ings, :he berated
I! crosoft could do no wrong, there was, newcomer to the Windows group, Mr. , , Longhorn engi-
II
little Mr. Allchin could do. As soon as Srivastava had his team draw ~. Amitabh Srivastava neers for the mess,
! i
Microsoft was done with one version' it of how Wmdows' PIeces fit toe-ether. It say people familiar
pushed on to the. next. Mr. Allchin was with the meetings. After one teJ;lsemeet-
haunted by what he calls his "little de- :s I Ked. eIg~ efeet tall and 11train
a haphazard feet map
~~ with
an«1 ing with Mr. Gates on August 17, Mr.
mons." . ht.iiU'Ifedsof tracks crisscrossing each, Srivastava says he called his team to-
In 2001 Microsoft made a documen- otheL ' , gether, acknowledging that he had under-
tary film celebrating the creation of Win- ~at was just the opposite of how Mi- estimated the scope 9f the challenge they
,dows XP, which remains the latest full crosoft's new rivals worked. Google and faced in'fixing Longhorn, though he was
update of Windows. When Mr. Allchin others developed test versions of soft- heartened by the group's apparent will-
previewed the film, it confinned some of ware and shipped them over the Internet. ingness to change. (Mr. Gates says he
his misgivings about the Windows ciIl- The best of the proirams from rivals doesn't remember the meeting.)
ture. He saw the' eleventh-hour heroics were like Lego blocks-they had a smg-Ie On Aug. 27, 2004, Microsoft said it
needed to finish the product and get it to functIOn and were designed to be con- would ship Longhorn in the second half
customers. Mr: Allchin ordered the film nected on 0 a lar er wnole. Google and of 2006-at least a year late-and that Mr.
to t,Jeburned. even Microsoft's own online imit Gates's WinFS advance wouldn't be part
When the Longhorn project to build could quickly respond to changes in the , of the system. Days later in Microsoft's
an XP .successor got started, teams of way people use~ their PCs and the. Web auditoliium, Mr. Allchin announced to
engineers set off to develop it as they by adding incremental improvements. hundreds of Windows engineers that
always had. Mr. Gates was especially ea- In April 2004, Google, seemingly out they would "reset" Longhorn using a
ger for them to add a fundamental of nowhere, introduced its Gmail ser- clean base of code that had been devel-
change to Windows called WinFS that vice, competing with Microsoft's Hot- oped for a version OfWindowson.corpo-
would let PC users search and organize mail program. Tiny Internet browser rate server computers.At the event, Mr.
infonnation better. One goal was to let maker Mozilla Foundation heat Mi- Ballmer promised the engineers that
, !! crosoft to market with browser features whateverfeatures got cut fromLonghorn
users scour their entire computer for
work they had done on a subject without , planned for ~nghorn. would make it into future versions..

needing to go through every individual Most alarming: By July 200,4,itbe- Ashe started to learn more aboutMr.
program or document. came clear that Google was working on Srivastava'sbroaderplan,}Ii!.Gatesw.as
Mr. Allchinsays he soon saw his a "desktop search" tool for finding infor- concerned that the UIlproventools for
feats realized. In making large soft- mation~ on a PC"-offering some of the keepmg the Windowscore clean would
ware programs engineers regularly features that Mr. Gates's WinFS pro- levy-'a "tax" on engmeers-m other "
bring together all the new unfinished gram was supposed to bring to Long- words. that mey wOUldspend so much
features into a single "build," a sort of horn. Google, previously focused exclu- tim . g to meetMr.Srivastava'sstan-
prototype used.to test how the features sively on the Internet, was now step- dards tha ey WQ t be able to de-
work together. Ideally, engineers make ping onto Microsoft'i; turf as the creator vise InnOV'dIlons tor wmnows users. At a
a fresh build everY night, fix any bugs of software insidethe PC. . meeting on Sept. 8, Mr. Snvastava's
I
and go back to refining their features While Windows. itself coiIldn't be a team wiJ!>walking Mr. Gates through the
the next day. But with 4,000 engineers single module-it had. too manyfunc- plan when he challenged them. Why, he
I
writing code each. day, testing the tions fpr that -'-it could be d~~igned so wondered, weren't the reformers aSking
build. became a Sisyphean task. When . that.M:ic~o~oftcQuld; ea.sil}'pl!lg in or the mass of Windows engineers for their I' I
a bug popped up, trouble-shooters .pl1JlJlutnew features .:Witho).ltAisrupting viewof the changes? '
would often have to manually search the whole' system. . That wai Ii corner- "It was all just, 'Hey, bless this pro-
i' through thousands of lines of code to stone of 'a plan Mr. Srivastava proposed cess,' which I was uiJ.willingto do," Mr.
I, '
I find the problem. to his boss, Mr. Allchin. Microsoft Gates says; "They're just talking about
I ' Mr. Gates's WinFS project was so would have to throw out years of com- process and I'm frustrated we're not talk-
! troublesome that engineers began talk- ' puter code in Longhorn and start out ingabout how the teams are responding
ing about whether they could make the with a fresh base. It would set up com- to it." .

"pig fly." Images of pigs with wings puters to automatically reject bug-laden By late October, Mr. Srivastava's I,
, , '

~--~~ ~---'-~'_m'_m-
\ ,I

~ET
'I
JOURNAL.
.. i
i

ft Changes How It Builds Software of Longhorn-now named Windows '-

t team wasbeginnirigto automatethe test- shoulq shut up and supportthis effort," Vista-to 500,000customers for testing.
1ing that had historically been done by according to one of his team members,
I,hand. If a feature had too many bugs, G.S., Rana. (Mr. Valentine says he . Experience had told the Windows team to
f software "gates" rejected it from bemg does,n't remember the r~Jlrks 'but expect many thousands of reported,prob-
lems frOm' customers. Insteac1, prootem
r
IIRP!i in J.o~~~~ilf emnneers had too doesn't
! ~~ oUl<;tandinlrugs they were tossed
disputeMr.Rana's
As engineers rec6lle~tion.) t~
began cooperating"1:l1!d leveledoff at around 1,000: -
\ in bul!'iail" and banned from wfltmgMr. Srivastava's team worked overtime . And last month, Microsoft delivered a
n~w code. The goal, he says, was to get to refine the tools, the quality of the test version of Mr. Gates's WinFSidea-
engineers to "do it right the first time." code' flowing into Longhorn began to not as a. part of Longhorn but as a
Recognizing Mr. Gates's concerns improve. The time to create 1:1new planned add-on feature. Microsoft this
over the impact on programmers, Mr. "build" fell16 just a fevt\Clays,allowing month'-&,aidit would issue monthly test
Srivastava hit on a plan to win their a faster cycle o~g and testing versions of Windows Vista, a first for the
hearts and minds. On Nov.5, he visited new code. After the Windowsgroupwas . company and a sign of the group's im-
the computer.-filledofficeof DaveCutler, able tomstall a workableverSionof the proved agility..,
a revered elder statesman among Win- ' system on their PCs four days before' It could take years before Windows
"dows engineers and a stickler for good Christmas, Mr. Srivastava' says the can be as flexible as Microsoft needs it to
codewriting.Wouldhe publiclythrowhis group celebrated by not working over be to pump out new features quickly. But
. weight behind the new approach? Mr. the holidays. the cultural shift is in swing. Hours after
"

Srivastava asked. Noteverythingwentso quickly,as en- showing off Windows Vista to ,software
. . 'On Dec.!" Mr. Srivastava escorted gineers grappled with the' challenge,of makers this month, Mr. Gates in an inter-
Mr. Cutler to. Microsoft's auditorium makingLonghornmore likeLegQblocks. view noted how Microsoft's Office group
where the softwareguru told 1,000engi" Microsoftmissed its June deadline for is now using some of Mr. Srivastava's
neers that he had used the toolsto build the first "beta" or test version of Lring- tools to improve its code. "It's amazing
Windowscode that was nearly bug-free. horn. On the Fourth of July Mr.Srivas- the invention those guys have' brought
, Mr. Srivastava's work, he said, "is the tava monitoredthe progresson his wire- forward," he said. "I wish we'd done it
right thing." That Mr. Cutler,-;famous less laptop, set up next to his grill'as he earlier. "
for never attending meetings-would cooked veggie burgers and teriyaki This week Mr. Allcbin announced that
,.emerge to back Mr. Allchin'srevolution chickenfor familyguests.Mr,Srivastava as part of the restructuring he ~l retire
helped persuade some engineers to drop was so preoccupiedwith Longhornthat next year after Windows vista is ill .cus-
their objections. he inadvertently agreed to his wife's tomers' hands. In a recent interview he
Othersweren't so easilyconvinced. . plan to remodeltheir bedroom.He re- said his. demons aren't fully exorcised.
Respondingto an attendee questioning calls that when he protested, she joked, . "There're, weakneSses in everything
the merits of the newregime, Mr.Valen- "Yougot the Windowsjob. I get this. It's we're doing today," Mr. Allchin says.
tine, tl;1eenforcer, shot back, "Is your a smilliprice to pay." , "But it's such a huge step up from where
code perfect? Are you perfect? If not, yo~ . On July 28, Microsoft shipped the beta wewere." .

!Roberts Wins Senate Committee ApprovaZ'by13-5

By JEANNE CuMMINGS worry that he won't be able to maintain the hearings, Ms.' Feinstein said she
the largely civil and collegial tone of the couldn't support Judge Roberts if she be;
WASHINGTON-With three Demo- Roberts he!lrillgs. "I've been concerned lieved he would seek to overrule Roe v. !i
.crats joining Republicans in support, the about the next round since the middle" of Wade. "He didn't cross my bar," she said. i.i:
Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the Roberts he!lrillgs, he said. "'I:herewas
a lot of frustration in the hearing room."
Like other Democrats who withheld
support, Ms, Feinstein said that Judge
",.
U.S. Circuit Judge John Roberts' to be-
come chief justice, clearing the way for Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Roberts, on five occasions, said he had
Herbert Kohl and Russell Feingold of Wis- "nQ quarrel" with court decisions related
I;
confirmation by the full Senate next week.
The 13-to-5vote concluded the panel's consin, the three Democrats who sup- to the rights of the disabled, adoption
work on the Roberts nomination, and his ported Judge Roberts, shared the unease and women's issues. More than 10 years
approval by the full Senate is all but as~ their colleagues expressed about the nom- ago, Justice 'Thomas used exactly that
sured by the Republican majority..It set inee's refusal to a~swer questions re- language eight times in his confirmation
the stage, however, for what is expected lated to civil rights, abortion and other testimony, and later issued opinions that
to be a more contentious debate over issues. In the end, they said, Judge Rob- showed strong objections to the very pre-
President Bush's choice to succeed retir- erts's stellar resume, smooth perform- cedents he once said didn't trouble him. I!
:lng Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Mr. ance and scant indications of a political The expression, said Ms. F.einstein, Ii
Bush could announce his pick as early as agenda persuaded them to support him. seems "a term of art for equivocation."
next week. ' "I will vote my hopes today and not my Committee Republican~ praised \1
"We're already talking about the next fears," Mr. Kohl said. Judge Roberts's legal record and. de-
nominee in code," Sen. Lindsey Graham Mr. Feingold said Judge Roberts's tes- fended him from some of the Democrats'
(R.,S.C.) said, adding that Democrats timony about his judicial philosophy and complaints. But even the judge's ,backers
laced their remarks before the vote .with respect for precedent convinced him that hinted at uncertatntyabout the course he
recommendations-or warnings-for the ' he won't drastically shift the court to the will set once he takes. the high court's
White House. Mr. Graham urged the pres; right.::Ithink it would be difficult to reins, succeeding- the late Chief Justice
ident to "keep,.your campaign promise" overrule Roe v. Wade and remain true to William Rehnquist for whom he clerked.
'

andnominate a judge who would strictly his testimony," Mr. Feingold said. Iowa Sen. Charles 'E. Grassley re- ~
.~
interpret th~ Gonstitution. One'of the most watched votes on the called voting more than adecade agoror
Sen; Chartes Schumer (D., N.Y.) committee was that of Sen. Dianne Fein- . Justice David Souter, nominated by Presi-
;
I called on Mr. Bush to send a candidate stein (D., Cal~.),whowas elected in 1992 dent George H.W. Bush, hut now aligned
rI who answers questions fully, releases all on a wave 'of;fem3J.~;'voters'..outtage, at, Witlltne 'col,II'l'sliberal blQc. "I h01>e10
. documentsand "isnotan ideologue." how the Judiciary Committee handled An- years from now, I don't come back and
.'

After thehe!lrillg, CommitteeChair- ita' Hill's sexual'harassrnent"tharges find I'was wrong. like I was with 'Justice
'.

man ArlenSpecter (R., Pa.) expressed agIDnst~ustice Clarellce ThOmas. Before Souter," Mr.' Grassley said.

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