Microsoft Plans Significant Announcement

Microsoft will reveal "significant" company news Thursday, but the announcement is unrelated to its bid to acquire Yahoo.

The company is planning a press conference for 11:30 EST that its CEO Steve Ballmer, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie and Senior Vice President of Server and Tools Bob Muglia will attend. Brad Smith, senior vice president and general counsel, also will be at the conference.

According to Microsoft, the Yahoo acquisition, which has been top of mind in the industry over the last few weeks, "will not be discussed during the call." Microsoft made a surprise US$44.6 billion bid to purchase the Internet company on Feb. 1, a bid Yahoo's board rejected. Microsoft is reportedly mounting a proxy fight for Yahoo.

Muglia's Server and Tools division oversees some of Microsoft's most significant business products, such as Windows Server, Visual Studio and SQL Server, new versions of which Microsoft plans to launch in an event in Los Angeles at the end of the month. Another major enterprise product for Microsoft, Exchange Server, also is a part of this business.