buzz around Windows 7 will translate into a hit. It desperately needs one. Amid big competitors like Google, Apple, and IBM posting modest growth despite the slowing economy, Microsoft shows serious signs of trouble. Windows market share has dipped beneath 90 percent for the first time in years. Internet Explorer is down into the 60s in world browser market share, falling from the high 80s in 2004. And Windows Vista, while overall a solid product, has been the blunt of much public apathy, business scorn, and press lashings. To top it off, it’s facing a fresh round of antitrust charges from the European Union.

Even arguably Microsoft's biggest success - the Xbox 360 - despite boasting an excellent attach rate has fallen behind in the console war to the bestselling Nintendo Wii. And other Microsoft business sectors like its internet offerings, and Zune player have yet to achieve enough of a foothold to become a serious contender for dominant market share. In short, Microsoft, always a terrific innovator, is arguably without a killer app or product for the first time in years.

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