Microsoft Backs Vista Ship Date, Mostly

REDMOND, Wash. -- Microsoft(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) executives sound increasingly confident that the next generation of Windows and Office will meet their long-delayed deadlines.

"At this point in time, there is no data that says we won't ship Vista to businesses in November and consumers in January," said Kevin Johnson, co-president of the company's key Platforms & Services Division.

But Johnson added a note of caution that has become equivalent to boilerplate in discussions of new Microsoft products: "Vista will ship when it is ready. Quality is job one," he said.

Speaking to several hundred people attending the company's financial analyst day on the Microsoft campus, Johnson said he expects the Windows business to grow by 8% to 10% next year, a rate that mirrors the growth in PC shipments. However, much of the growth in PC shipments will come in the developing world, where piracy has historically lowered the adoption of Windows.

Consequently, emerging markets will not make a large revenue contribution in fiscal 2007. However, Microsoft is working hard to sell "genuine," that is, registered, copies through training and partnerships. In India, for example, the company plans to install some 50,000 Internet kiosks in rural communities. About 1,500 are already in place, he said. In China, Microsoft has trained more than 100,000 sales people.