NASA probably needed more engineers to land Neil Armstrong on the moon than Microsoft employed to develop its new flagship product, the Vista operating system. But not by much.

Reportedly more than 10,000 Microsoft employees worked for five years to produce Vista, which will be officially launched at Croke Park on Tuesday, at a cost estimated by Silicon Valley observers at $10bn. The exact numbers working on the Apollo programme were probably greater . . . but the comparisons will stick, not least because Neil Armstrong will be on hand for the launch at Croke Park.

As I discuss this with Joe Macri in his surprisingly spartan Sandyford office last week, the sun is setting behind the Dublin mountains that dominate the panoramic view through the window-wall of his top-floor digs. On the eve of what may be Microsoft's last big traditional sales push, Macri directs my attention to the pinboard on the far wall.

"I always like to have a joke at Google's expense, " Macri explains, gesturing towards a Martyn Turner cartoon from a January Irish Times. Inspired by Google's controversial decision to censor its search results at the request of the Chinese government, the cartoon depicts a Palestinian fighter at a computer, where a search at Google Hamas for Israel results in a message that "no such place exists".

Macri admits that he's "a little schizophrenic" about Google, though he insists he's delighted it is in Ireland. He says Google is starting to do in Ireland many of the things that Microsoft has done for years.

It must be galling. The rise of the upstart happened almost entirely during a single Microsoft product development cycle. Coming from practically nowhere, Google regularly threatens to outflank its elder rival on several fronts once considered unassailable Microsoft territory.

In fact it's hard to believe that Microsoft, given the competitive threats that it faces on so many fronts, was still accused of anti-competitive practices at the EU Commission by competitors reported to have included Symantec over virus protection issues and Google over search. Brussels seems to be satisfied at last count, however, that Microsoft was complying with its directives.

There is a battle of business models between the two companies that will unfold this Tuesday with the launch of Vista and the forthcoming launch of a new version of Office . . . the Microsoft suite of basic applications that most office workers and professionals use every day.

Vista will feature some new bells and whistles . . . many of which will be usable only with a newer set of tools under the bonnet. Some 15,000 users in Ireland have already been testing so-called 'beta' versions of the software, out of a total of five million people worldwide.

The first will be a new emphasis on search. Macri quotes a study by technology analysts the Gartner Group suggesting that information workers spend up to six hours in a given week finding information on their PCs or their corporate network and even recreating things they couldn't retrieve. He stresses that the new Vista will have tools allowing greater flexibility in collaborating on projects, including working wirelessly.

Another big product feature of Vista will be enhanced security features, against not just viruses but threats from 'phishing' and identity theft.

Finally, ever the salesman, Macri stresses that it will take the cost out of managing information technology.

Macri says this will have a positive impact on productivity among Irish businesses, particularly SMEs. It's a subject Macri has devoted a lot of time to . . . last week Microsoft teamed up with the Irish Management Institute to launch a National Productivity Centre to offer technology and management support to smaller companies. It follows nearly two years of involvement with the issue. Macri teamed up with economist Paul Tansey to examine the issues of productivity in the Irish economy, leading to a series of initiatives that included him heading up the Small Business Forum. Macri quite openly acknowledged that Microsoft isn't motivated entirely by an altruistic concern for the Irish economy.

"Clearly Windows Vista and Office 2007 have those sort of technologies, and I make no apologies about that, " he says.

"We're a commercial organisation and if I were to say anything else I wouldn't be doing my job." And the commercial imperative . . . including a watchful eye on the competition . . . is never far from Macri's thoughts.

Rapidly expanding out of its search-engine roots, Google now offers through its Gmail Google Calendar and internetbased word processing and spreadsheets. Google offers all of these applications for free . . . for now, anyway. (The word 'beta' seems smaller under Gmail every time you use it, but it's still there. ) All it asks in return is that you don't mind the occasional discreet advertisement targeted at you based on what you're reading or writing.

Microsoft, by contrast, will charge users in the traditional way for plastic discs with verification codes and heaps of copy-protection. More than 12 million of them will be shipped out via Microsoft's supply chain, the process managed from here.

But the next generation of Microsoft software clearly will be taking some lessons from its rivals and taking on new challenges . . . more successfully than some sceptics had anticipated.

Its Xbox 360 gaming console, and now Xbox Live for online gaming and perhaps in future a gateway for digital content coming into the home including downloaded games and even movies, more than hold their own against competition from Nintendo's Wii and the on-again, off-again launch for Sony's PlayStation 3.

It is too early to say whether its wireless-sharing Zune music player, not yet available here, will be a match for the mighty Apple iPod, but the very fact that Microsoft is even in that game is a testament to the company's continuing ability to innovate.

About Google, Macri adds, "clearly they compete. They've got a great ad model."

It's an ad model that Microsoft may copy as well.

A suite of products under the name 'Live' may include adsupported free software that may mark a step-change in the way Microsoft produces software.

Though Macri insists, "I'm not a techno, " his salesman's antennae are clearly alerted by what he's been seeing. "It's exciting . . . it goes way beyond search."

But his enthusiasm as a salesman may combat with his instincts as a father of three small children. He took time off during the summer after his wife had their third child. On the subject of social networking, all the rage with the Web2.0 technophiles, he is surprisingly suspicious.

"As a parent it just scares the hell out of me what's going on.

You can't control it."

I ask if that fear of loss of control is a reflection of the stereotype of Microsoft's desire for control.

"No. I as a parent want to know what my kids are up to.

When my kids are talking to people they think they know who are their friends then let's make sure that they are their friends. Things like instant messaging allow you to do that, because you have things like identities. That's why we got out of the chat-room business.

"It's the same thing with social networking. There's a lack of control. I'm not an expert on this, but if you talk to Microsoft, and you talk to other responsible leaders in technology, they talk about this stuff and are concerned about this stuff. I don't see that coming . . . I'm not going to name names, you know who they are . . . I don't see that coming from them on this issue in a responsible way.

"And that's me talking as a parent."

CV JOE MACRI

Age: 43

Family: Married with three young children.

Born: Sydney, Austrialia

Educated: BS Sydney University, MBA Warwick Business School

Career: Natwest Bank in mid1990s; 1996 . . . joins Microsoft UK, set up the small business unit; 1999 . . . moves to Microsoft Ireland; 2002 . . . given overall responsibility to represent 'the site' of Microsoft operations on the island of Ireland; 2005 . . . Appointed chairman of the government's Small Business Forum, appointed to board of Health Services Executive, also served on management board of ICT Ireland and board of Ibec

Pet hate: phrase "non-national".