Microsoft’s potential to close a deal with Yahoo! appear closer to fruition today than it did earlier this week.

Reports of Yahoo! seeking alternative deals with everyone from Google to News Corp. to Time Warner seem to be quieting. Meanwhile, Microsoft has not made any better offer than its original price of $42.1 billion.

Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., also announced an executive shuffle which could signal its preparation for absorbing the original Web portal giant.  The company promoted seven new senior vice presidents and seven new corporate vice presidents.

“Each of these executives will play a critical role in leading Microsoft into the future,” said CEO Steve Ballmer.

Steve Berkowitz, the current senior vice president of the Online Services Group, will leave the company this summer, the company announced.

Officially, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! believes the proposal undervalues its assets; unofficially, the companies are long-time arch-rivals and it’s unlikely that founders Jerry Yang and David Filo would stay for long if the Microsoft deal occurs.