The 2010 year-end review of Microsoft

Welcome to Microsoft Pri0: That's Microspeak for top priority, and that's the news and observations you'll find here from Seattle Times innovation reporter Sharon Chan.

The company

Top leaders as well exited the company: Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, Entertainment and Devices division President Robbie Bach and Business division President Stephen Elop.

The progress has been slow, now. Success of Azure depends on how many developers build software for it. It however has 20,000 clients.The company, in the meantime, continues to release new features and products for the cloud. In July, Microsoft announced plans to sell an Azure appliance that would reside on a corporate campus in other words than in a data center run by Microsoft. The product is aimed at companies that don't trust their business data to an outside company.

Kin: Microsoft launched the Kin mobile phone in April, calling it the phone for the socially networked generation. The phone's software was designed for life-casters who want to update their status and upload photos to Facebook. It began selling in May with Verizon Wireless, and by the end of June, Microsoft had pulled it from the market. Sales were reportedly disappointing. CEO Ballmer said the Kin distracted attention from Windows Phone 7, which started selling in the fall.

Office 2010: The workhorse productivity software, which makes $18.6 billion a year in revenue for Microsoft, came out with its latest version in May. For the first time, Microsoft as well made a free lightweight Web-based version, called Office Web Apps, to compete with Google Docs. Microsoft reports Office 2010 has sold 6 million copies.

Windows Phone 7: Two years afterwards Apple launched the iPhone, Microsoft introduced its redesigned mobile-phone operating system, dubbed Windows Phone 7, in October. The company says it will spend $100 million to market the phones, which are designed to make it faster to get contact updates and other information from your phone.

How many phones clients have bought

Microsoft has as well declined to say how many phones clients have bought, however phone-makers have sold 1.5 million to wireless carriers.

Kinect for Xbox 360: The motion sensor for Microsoft's video-game system allows people to play games without using a handheld controller. During the sensor has only a limited array of Xbox games that take advantage of the innovation, it has sold 2.5 million units since launching in November. Microsoft sees potential in motion sensors beyond riding imaginary river rafts. The company believes that voice and gesture, not the mouse and keyboard, will define the desktop and office of the future.

Lync: The many names of Microsoft unified messaging software — Office Communicator, Office Communications Server — got deep-sixed for a new brand, Lync, in November. Lync can replace a traditional office phone system, and it brings at the same time phone calling, instant messaging, video conferencing and presence, software that senses whether you're at your desk, on the phone or in a meeting.

Windows 7: During the latest version of Microsoft's operating system launched last year, it continued to see strong sales in 2010, selling 240 million copies since it hit the market in October 2009.

What's missing from this long list of major product launches? A tablet. This was the year of the iPad, and Apple has sold more than 7 million of the tablets. Google has jumped into the market with Android tablets. Ballmer says the company is working on it nevertheless has declined to put a date on when shoppers will get to see tablets running Windows that can compete with the iPad. News reports recently surfaced saying that Microsoft would make news about tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.