Microsoft splits into five

Microsoft has finally announced its long awaited internal reorganisation after weeks of speculation.

The company will be split into five divisions: business and enterprise, consumer windows, business productivity, developer and consumer, and commerce.

The software giant's president, Steve Ballmer, called the move a "reinvention" of Microsoft.

Bill Gates, CEO and chairman, claimed in a conference call that the reorganisation "had nothing to do with any lawsuits". He said the move is designed to keep the company ahead of the competition and any discussion of a radical break-up instigated by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) would not be welcome.

But independent analyst, Graham Lea, told Silicon.com the move is designed to appease the DoJ, but may have come too late. "The iceberg is in sight, but they are rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic," he said.

Neil Holloway, managing director at Microsoft UK, strenuously denied this allegation. "This is absolutely not the case. We are continuing to do business and enable the customer to meet the demand through technology and not focus only on the DoJ," he said.

Holloway added that the reshuffle aims to make Microsoft a more "customer orientated" company. "You could say the company was very function orientated, but now we are saying it is better to be audience led," he said.

The split comes just one day before Microsoft lawyers are set to meet with the DoJ to discuss a possible out-of-court settlement to the anti-trust trial.