Stepping in Bill Gates shoes is daunting, but Ozzie seems fine with it. He and another former CTO, Craig Mundie, are splitting some of Gates' duties. Gates remains chairman, and a full-timer for two years, the company said late Thursday.

[Some background, if needed: Microsoft bought Groove Networks, the Beverly, Mass., company Ozzie founded, just over a year ago and brought Ozzie, his brother Jack Ozzie, and others aboard.]

Ozzie denies talk that his becoming chief software architect was the goal of Microsoft's Groove buy all along.

"It was not part of the deal," Ozzie said. "We had been negotiating to sell Groove to Microsoft as far back as '03. Specifically because their collaboration scenarios—desktop, mobility-related, cross-firewall relatedGroove worked very well in conjunction with SharePoint or not. It was just different. I would not have negotiated separately from that. All my passion was around the product. When I came aboard, I negotiated with Bill [Gates] and Steve [Ballmer] The agreement was that Groove would be part of Microsoft Office."

"They said 'we want you to be a change agent here for the better, make sure the Groove acquisition is functional. Once the integration is more or less completed, why don't you recommend to us what you believe in?' That ended up being the 'Live' stuff."

Windows Live and Office Live are Microsoft's nascent hosted services. Windows Live is basically an extension of MSN geared for consumers, and Office Live with additional capabilities hosted on SharePoint, targets consumers and small businesses.

Many are watching for what Steve Sinofsky, who's moved to Windows from Office, will do. He's seen as a superstar who'll fix problems that hurt and delayed Vista/Longhorn development.

Ozzie agrees on Sinofsky's rep. He is "the most highly respected tech leader in that realm. He knows how to execute extremely well. He hits timelines," Ozzie notes. " He is an amazing leader. People who report to him love working for him. Engineers know he understands what engineers need to run a project."

But Ozzie also notes Microsoft has a roster of stars. He cites J Allard of Xbox fame, Bob Muglia in servers and tools, among others.

As for Sinofsky's role, Ozzie said his initial priority will not be Vista, which remains Jim Allchin's baby. Sinofsky has shifted over to Windows and Live experiences but "he's more focused on the Live Experience now," Ozzie said.