Joe Wilcox over at BetaNews has posted what I gather, is a yearly event with him, where he makes a number of suggestions, rather than predictions, for Microsoft to consider in the coming year.

The theme behind this year’s list is one of, as Joe puts it:

Microsoft has a huge perception problem, and as I’ve so many times asserted: In business perception is everything.

I would be the first to agree with Joe on this, and all anyone has to do to see this perception problem is follow the tech blogosphere. While I did indeed notice a bit of a change in attitude over the last part of this year, for the most part you never hear anything positive about Microsoft from tech pundits.

Now as I read over Joe’s list, I found a couple of points that I could agree with.  Starting with a combination of a couple of things he mentioned that really center around the company being more intimate in its relationship with consumers, and techies.

Intimacy is hugely important to any relationship. It’s easy for anyone with a keyboard to write bad things about an amorphous, distant corporation. It’s something else when those same people interact with real executives and product managers. Personal contact changes everything.

Now this point was more in regard to Microsoft holding smaller and intimate product events, but I think this could also apply to his point about rapid iteration of their products.  By reducing the time between product versions you are able to interact more often with your customer base. It also allows you to be more of a “player” in the news cycle instead of launching and then fading into the background.

Everyone of Microsoft’s competitors wipes the floor with it when it comes to controlling the news cycle, therefore, constantly being in front of the consumer.  Apple is a past master at this but Google and Facebook are no slouches either when it comes to this.

Microsoft on the other hand; mainly due to its strong enterprise leanings I think, makes their big splashy announcements and then disappears for a couple of years. Unless of course something goes wrong and they are forced into the news cycle. When this happens, it is typically due to negative press which puts the company into a defensive mode.

Now to be fair, I think tech blogosphere needs to step back and give Microsoft a chance. Granted, the company has done things that we haven’t liked in the past but there has been a noteworthy shifts for the better in regard to Microsoft’s approach over the last year, and I think we need to recognize that the Microsoft we see today isn’t the one a lot of us grew up with.

I’m not suggesting that we all become breathless at every move made by Microsoft,  but I do think we should accord them the same fairness that the tech blogosphere showers down on Apple, Google, or Facebook.  Sure, nail them into the boards if they do wrong, but c’mon .. enough with the “Borg” remarks and other childish comments.

One thing I definitely didn’t agree with Joe on was his idea of Bill Gates coming back to the company.  Not even as a “frontman to help build positive perceptions and better sell your stuff”.  When it comes to that, Microsoft needs to look inside the company to find that voice, that passion, that can resonate with consumers.

One of the writers at WMPoweruser.com had an interesting suggestion – Joe Belfiore.

Now, I have nothing but utter respect for Mr. Ballmer, but I think he is better suited at making speeches for the enterprise, where he can focus on sales, dollars and cents. I have never found him inspirational when trying to sell the vision for Microsoft’s consumer strategy like Steve Jobs does for Apple. I am not also saying that Mr. Belfiore will match Mr. Jobs, but I think his presentation in Barcelona, and subsequent interviews have showed him to more than capable for the job.

Having watched the launch on the web I have to agree. Belfiore could be up for the job but definitely not Gates – that comes with too much baggage.

[Cross-posted at Winextra]