Microsoft 2002 Annual Report Download - page 7

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enable seamless sharing of information across many platforms and programming languages, and
over the Internet, with XML Web Services.
The potential of Web services is gaining wide support among software developers and leading
technology providers. For example, the Web Services Interoperability Organization, formed by
Microsoft and other industry leaders in early 2002 to provide guidance and best practices for
developing XML Web services, now has more than 120 companies as members.
To provide software developers with the tools and infrastructure for building and deploying XML
Web services and other .NET-connected solutions, we launched Visual Studio .NET and the .NET
Framework in February 2002. In fiscal 2003 we plan to launch Windows .NET Servers, which will
provide the most compelling platform for developing and hosting Web services and business
solutions.
Companies that are helping to test the promising beta version of Windows .NET Servers foresee
many benefits. JetBlue Airways, for example, plans to use it as the platform for a new reservations
system and to secure access to its computers and facilities with fingerprint biometrics embedded
in smart cards. The young airline has achieved a “paperless cockpit” by providing pilots with
electronic versions of flight manuals that are automatically updated with an application that
JetBlue developers wrote using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. JetBlue credits Microsoft technology
with helping it to limit spending on information technology to about 1.5 percent of revenues, in an
industry where the average is about 5 percent.
DELIGHTING CONSUMERS
Our strategic investments in new consumer businesses brought gratifying results this past year,
with more to come in 2003. In the eight months after our Xbox video game system launched in
November 2001, 3.9 million consoles and 20 million Xbox games were sold. MSN, already the
most popular portal destination on the Web, is now also the leading provider of broadband Internet
access.
Microsoft and more than a dozen leading electronics manufacturers have developed a new line of
flat-panel, cordless displays that enable consumers to extend their Windows XP experience to
anywhere in the house. These Smart Displays will start appearing in stores in time for the 2002
holiday shopping season, as will PCs running our new Windows XP Media Center Edition,
providing remote-control access to digital music, movies, and a built-in personal video recorder.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
We are focused on long-term success for Microsoft as a business, for our 50,000 employees, our
shareholders, our industry, our customers, and the communities where we do business. Looking
to the future, a few developments are noteworthy.
Antitrust Lawsuit
In November 2001, Microsoft and the Department of Justice announced a settlement of the three-
year-old antitrust dispute. Nine state attorneys general joined in the settlement, while nine others
decided to continue with the case. The settlement requires significant changes in how we do
business, and Microsoft is fully committed to carrying out these responsibilities. The consent
decree is a tough but reasonable compromise that is good for the industry, good for consumers,
and good for the economy.