Believe it or not

INFOWORLD WAS invited to Redmond a few months ago to talk with Microsoft executives. The execs spoke of chief Steve Ballmer's planned changes in broad terms, using image-building phrases such as "Windows Security Initiative" and "Strategic Technology Protection Program." Except for the snappy new buzzwords, it all sounded familiar; Microsoft has trumpeted its renewed commitment to reliability, security, and scalability with every server product since OS/2 forked into Windows NT.

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But at its just-completed journalists' workshop for the upcoming Windows .Net Server OS, front-line executives and top developers finally quit posturing and hauled out the code. I got to see about 80 percent of promised initiatives in prerelease software, which I was allowed to touch and take back to my lab. I have laid my hands on enough of the "Trustworthy Computing Initiative," "Secure by Default," "Manage Many as One," and other major programs that their mention no longer makes me roll my eyes.

Nevertheless, Microsoft has a tendency to back beta features out of its retail releases, so I won't assume any of what I've seen is carved in stone. The changes made between Windows 2000 and the Windows .Net Server prerelease are all for the better, some markedly so -- still, I'm not placing any bets until the code goes gold and we know what Microsoft will charge for it.

Microsoft tied up most of the workshop's details with a nondisclosure agreement, but it's no secret how swift and far-reaching Ballmer's changes have been since he took over. The superb Microsoft Press book, Writing Secure Code, lifts the veil on the company's efforts to correct its "damn the quality, ship on schedule" mentality. It reflects insiders' frustrations regarding Windows' lack of respect and seems to accept that Windows is where it is, not because of competitors or the evil media, but because of Microsoft itself.

These attitudes are showing up in Microsoft's plans for future technologies. Security will take precedence over backward compatibility and ease-of-use. Servers will ship locked down; creaky legacy technologies will be chopped out of the OS; and lots of existing Windows server applications -- including Microsoft's -- will break.

If Microsoft follows through as promised, it could initially lose as many enterprise accounts as it wins. Ballmer's mission is to earn the market's respect, and he's willing to draw ire from existing customers, third-party software vendors, competitors, and perhaps even the Department of Justice and state attorneys general to put Microsoft's enterprise ship back on course.

Despite the encouraging signs of progress, Microsoft still demands close scrutiny. After all, this is the same company that's pushing AMD and Intel to build mandatory digital rights management into every PC. IT planners still have to watch out for lock-in, incomprehensible licenses, and open-source FUD -- bad habits that Microsoft can't seem to break.