Articles about Steve Ballmer

Once again, comments made by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during an analysts' briefing two weeks ago are being bandied about by the press as "confirmation" that the company plans to produce a slimmed-down, netbook-ready SKU of Windows 7. However, a complete read of Ballmer's comments, as transcribed by Microsoft (Word document available here), indicate that this isn't what Ballmer said at all. In fact, he seemed intentionally vague on the topic, making clear the company was certainly thinking about the prospect of a netbook Win7 SKU, but confirming nothing.

"I think we have an opportunity when we ship Windows 7, which will fit on a netbook, we have an opportunity to rethink the product lineup for netbooks, product lineup and price lineup, and we get a chance to engage in that dialogue, both with the OEM, and potentially with the OEM and the end user," stated Ballmer last Tuesday, in response to a question from a J.P. Morgan analyst. "Today when you buy a netbook with XP you don't really get a full XP version, you get some restrictions on XP. Some people might say, hey, look, I'm happy with the restrictions, some people might want Windows 7 instead of XP, some might be happy with the restrictions, some end users might not be happy with the same restrictions.

Continue reading →

In a mobile device market being driven by capacitive touch-optimized operating systems, Windows Mobile has been forfeiting stature, and the enterprise sector has taken note. At the annual US Public Sector Chief Information Officer summit yesterday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talked up the forthcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 release, and almost immediately pushed it to the side.

"We have a significant release coming this year -- not the full release we wanted to have this year -- but we have a significant release coming this year with Windows Mobile 6.5...we still don't get some of the things that people want on the highest end phones. Those will come with Windows Mobile 7 next year."

Continue reading →

Dow Jones is reporting this afternoon that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made comments to financial analysts in New York this morning, reiterating his company's warning of continued weakness in the negative economy, coupled with uncertainty as to the degree or extent of the ill effects.

According to the Associated Press, Ballmer went on to say that his company's strategy out of this dark period will resemble that of one of America's former technology giants, RCA, when it resorted to investing heavily in research that enabled the US to become the leader in television production after the end of World War II. As an example, Ballmer -- according to the AP -- appeared to change course on a key technology, alluding to the possibility that Windows 7 could eventually appear on netbooks, and even referring to "netbooks" by name -- something Microsoft spokespersons had earlier been cautioned not to do.

Continue reading →

The public printing of the latest version of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (commonly known as the "stimulus bill"), breaks down a $7 billion allotment for investment in the US' broadband infrastructure:

For an amount for `Broadband Technology Opportunities Program', $7,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the funds provided under this heading, $6,650,000,000 shall be expended pursuant to section 201 of this Act, of which: not less than $200,000,000 shall be available for competitive grants for expanding public computer center capacity, including at community colleges and public libraries; not less than $250,000,000 shall be available for competitive grants for innovative programs to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service; and $10,000,000 shall be transferred to `Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General' for the purposes of audits and oversight of funds provided under this heading and such funds shall remain available until expended.

Continue reading →

Its enterprise brands have all been succeeding quite nicely -- Windows Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio, Office, SharePoint. But in the consumers' mind, Microsoft took a beating last year. How will Ballmer recover?

7:50pm PT: They have moved over to a surface controller that will integrate with the tablet as well as a smartphone. They're showing off an e-ink style mockup as well, this is followed by typical Ballmer comment about how excited he is about everything. Gary Shapiro: "Bill left you a big sweater to fill, Steve, but I think you've pulled it off!" And with that, Tripod comes back on, to play out the quickly vaporizing crowd.

Continue reading →

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is now under court order to testify in a case charging Microsoft with deceptive marketing, despite his protests that he knew nothing about the "Vista Capable" mess.

Ballmer has been compelled by a court to testify in a class action suit accusing Microsoft of providing misleading information about the ability of some Intel-based PCs to run Vista. But Friday's ruling in the case by US District Judge Marsha Pechman places a time limit of three hours on Ballmer's deposition.

Continue reading →

A letter from HP CEO Mark Hurd to Steve Ballmer after the release of Vista gives observers a sense of how miserable life became thereafter at HP -- plus that delicious feeling of snooping into someone else's cranky e-mail.

A court document filed last month in the class-action suit pitting Microsoft against disgruntled buyers of "Vista Capable" machines seeks to require a deposition from CEO Steve Ballmer. The plaintiff's motion states that "Mr. Ballmer's deposition is vitally important to this litigation" -- three hours max, at Microsoft or off campus, during the workday or on the weekend, whatever it takes.

Continue reading →

Developers seeking a complete functionality overhaul for future Windows Mobile-based smartphones may have to wait until late in 2010, as comments from Microsoft's CEO indicate the next WM version is just a refresh.

Last October 30, Motorola Mobile Devices CEO Sanjay Jha made an off-the-cuff remark during Motorola's quarterly conference call, saying his company was planning for Windows Mobile 6.5 in the second half of 2009. Effectively confirming that date, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last Thursday told analysts attending a conference in Melbourne, Australia, in conjunction with its carrier partner Telstra that the next wave of mobility features will be realized in Windows Mobile 6.5 -- not Windows Mobile 7 -- due in H2 2009.

Continue reading →

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent the following memo to partners and customers about the Windows Azure platform that was announced at PDC 2008 this week and the company's software plus services vision. It's a long read, but important if you want to stay on top of where Microsoft is headed.

Subject: A Platform for the Next Technology Revolution

Continue reading →

UPDATED Microsoft was forced to issue an official statement following CEO Steve Ballmer's comments yesterday morning at Gartner ITXpo. Ballmer's remark that a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo still makes sense caused an upward jolt in Yahoo's stock value.

The company's official word came later: "Our position hasn't changed. Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo!; there are no discussions between the companies."

Continue reading →

3:46 pm EDT October 2, 2008 - In a move reminiscent of a different CEO named Steve, Microsoft's chief Wednesday expressed the idea of a future service for deploying applications "in the cloud." But perhaps speculators are confused by the "Windows" name.

Until the Professional Developers' Conference convenes in a little over four weeks' time, Microsoft will very likely say nothing of consequence about a concept its CEO publicly called "Windows Cloud" during a developers' meeting in London yesterday. That's by design, of course; Steve Ballmer is, for once, successfully deploying a Steve Jobs tactic of tossing a new concept to the masses like fresh meat to the wolves, and occupying their attention up until the final date of revelation.

Continue reading →

It is perhaps the biggest "no-go" in the history of the Internet industry. So in the absence of any Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Redmond, did Microsoft manage to move the needle in its direction in its fight to avoid becoming the #4 player?

Whether the idea was made popular by the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tse in the sixth century B.C., or by Michael Douglas' portrayal of "Gordon Gekko" in the classic 1980s movie "Wall Street," there's a notion that warriors don't enter into battles they haven't already won in advance. Maybe Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hasn't read up on his philosophy or hasn't watched much AMC lately; in either case, he's the one holding an empty basket today, after shutting almost every door behind him on the way out of the Yahoo negotiations.

Continue reading →

Late Saturday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent a detailed letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang regarding his decision to drop his company's bid to acquire Yahoo. Here is the text of that letter in its entirety: