Microsoft's link to Silicon Valley
Nwsource | at | by Mike
Dan'l Lewin, Microsoft's vice president for .NET business development, wants to thaw the historically chilly relationship between his company and the Valley, a 1,500-mile hotbed of technology in the San Francisco Bay Area. His vision -- spreading the gospel of the company's bet-the-company .NET initiative -- drew him to Microsoft in January 2001.
Silicon Valley is home to many of Microsoft's biggest and fiercest rivals. And every day there sees the birth, and probably the death, of technology start-ups. Microsoft maintains a five-building complex, housing 1,380 employees in Mountain View. But many companies still view Microsoft as an outsider and an enemy, or at best a potential partner to be approached with great care.