”However, the Board believes we have the opportunity to create increased shareholder value over time. This will require the company to have significant growth, establish market leadership and generate superior financial returns. We believe a change in leadership at this time will accelerate the company’s ability to accomplish these objectives.”

Bob Muglia played as strong a hand as he could as head of the servers and tools division at Microsoft, building it into a $15 billion-a-year business. The problem isn't that Muglia isn't smart or has lapsed into becoming a representative of the past. On the contrary, he is among the most flexible and modern of Microsoft executives and one of the few with the general skills to potentially replace Steve Ballmer as CEO.