Not to downplay the change taking place, but what portion of the work that MS as a company does is represented by the flashy stuff that has everyone calling it a "new Microsoft"? Did all that middle-management and infighting and bureaucratic stasis just... disappear?

In other words, nerds often heap disdain on marketing but they are as susceptible to it as anyone else. The marketing to which they are susceptible is just less recognizable as such.