Microsoft Workers Barely Blink Over Federal Judge’s Ruling

A federal judge’s harsh portrait of Microsoft Corp.’s business practices didn’t faze the thousands of the company’s foot soldiers.

“Our group is pretty focused on shipping product,” said a product designer in the Windows Media Division, summing up the bunker mentality on the company’s 80-acre campuslike complex of office buildings and rolling green hills. The ruling is “probably in the back of everyone’s mind, but its just another day at Microsoft.”

Indeed, most employees said they expected the worst since last November, when U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson sided with the government, finding that the software giant repeatedly engaged in anti-competitive behavior by taking advantage of its monopoly power.

Many Microsoft workers watched Chairman Bill Gates’ and President Steven Ballmer’s televised news conference on the computers in their offices, and they were braced for a harsh decision.

Ballmer and Gates have been keeping workers informed through e-mail, with Gates sending out a note Saturday night that said senior executives had done everything they could to reach a settlement through mediation.

On Monday, virtually everyone at Microsoft had an opinion, but no one wanted to be quoted by name.

Taking a cue from their leaders, many workers said they believe that the government’s lawsuit was unjustified, that the company will prevail on appeal and that the entire case was the result of jealous competitors who lost in the battle of commerce.

One program manager in Microsoft’s developer division called Novell and Lotus “a bunch of losers” who couldn’t compete, so they went to the government for help.

“They made some real business errors, they made strategic and tactical errors and they executed their poor business plan poorly,” the program manager said. “Why should we be penalized for their business failure?

“Our competitors are so focused on destroying us, but they could not do it in the business arena, so they resorted to the legal arena. We’re very much like a Greek tragedy--we have huge flaws. But our competitors are missing that. They are too emotionally involved in beating Bill Gates. They should be cold and strategic like we are.”

Said one senior executive: “At first, [the trial] was pretty distressing. But now people are dug in. People here really believe the company didn’t do anything wrong. Sure, the company was aggressive in the past--Microsoft doesn’t roll over.”

That decidedly hard-line view is in contrast to the early days of the antitrust trial, when some were questioning Microsoft’s tactics and aggressive actions.

“We talked about the arrogance issue and we said ‘if we’re good, we’re good and we’re not going to be modest about it,’ ” said a former product director. “Then we realized that in the real world we had to be more tactful. It was a learning experience.”

For many Microsoft workers, a larger threat to the company’s livelihood is keeping pace with the next evolutionary advance of the Internet.

In hallway conversations that used to focus on stock options, new programs and technical issues, discussions lately have centered more on a floundering stock price or whether to join a start-up Internet company.

“With the stock struggling, people are open to leaving the company now,” said a former director of product development, who recently left Microsoft for another company.

Dressed in conservative business suits and sporting rare ties, Gates and longtime pal Ballmer appeared chastened by the judge’s harsh ruling but confident that the company would prevail on appeal.

Both insisted that the ruling would not stop Microsoft from creating new and innovate software products, but they also said that they have to provide responsible leadership.

Gates remained mystified by the judge’s dark portrait of the company and called the description inaccurate.

“This ruling turns on its head the reality that consumers know--that our software has made PCs and software more affordable, that the results have brought lower prices and higher productivity,” Gates said. “Innovation will continue to be the No. 1 priority at Microsoft.”

Gates and Ballmer said that they hadn’t told their story very well, and that they failed to remind their customers, partners and third-party developers how much Microsoft’s products have helped them benefit. The duo said they intend to remind them of the new opportunities in the future--opportunities that Gates said are greater than ever because of the Internet.

Ballmer stressed Microsoft plans to compete vigorously, but he also stressed that his company has no intentions to do it all.

“We want to do very well, we have big ambitious goals, but we don’t want it all,” Ballmer said. “Our passion for being the best has been misinterpreted. We can do better but it doesn’t mean innovating less.”