@Failbait He's right though, the only thing Ballmer has been succesful at is the tired Windows & Office business, and he almost even managed to fuck that up with the Vista fiasco. Ballmer has mocked competitors and predicted many products to fail or getting steamrolled by MS, but he was wrong every single time. Think Google (search, ad market, e-mail, mobile), Apple (mobile, tablets, operating systems), but there are more. There's so much more innovation coming from Microsofts competitors, and all Ballmer can do is follow and imitate.
I've never liked Gates when he was in charge, who was by no means perfect or on top of everything in his days, but compared to Ballmer he's a visionary.
@MarkAnderson My point is not that they are not printing money, my point is that they are failing to compete in any of the 'new' markets, which will bite them in the ass a few years down the road. Search, mobile, online ad delivery, PMP, tablets, they are trailing everywhere. I'm also not saying Microsoft is a sinking ship or anything, just that they seem to be stuck in the Windows & Office business.
By the way, in case you hadn't noticed: tech companies everywhere are reporting record profits, so it's hardly a surprise Microsoft is also doing well in terms of earnings.
@inspiron41 Balmer was pretty spot on with Cloud computing...the next "BIG THING" whatever happened to that? oh ya...people stoped caring and the bubble deflated.
The biggest problem with Vista, was not Vista itself, but rather Manufactures cutting corners on hardware. Microsoft tried to pull the Classic Apple Card, "You gotta upgrade or it ain't gonna work." Balmer didn't forsee the economic downturn, and people wanting 400 dollar laptops, partially his fault, but you can't completely blame him.
MS office 2007 on the other hand, got a lot of praise after the initial knee-jerk business reaction "WE HATE CHANGE"... Most offices I know (in major companies) all use office 2007, and I can send .docx files with no worries.
Also, have you USED windows 7? Snap, Peek, and other behind the scenes inovation are GREAT....and the indexing system of windows 7 blows the socks off of linux or OSX.
You're right, hes not doing a great job, and there is room for improvement, but its not like he is running the company into the ground or anything as you are making it seem.
HP has had plenty of time to fine-tune its finger-friendly TouchSmart software, and now, its newest model, the TouchSmart 610, ushers in a fresh design, highlighted by a hinge that allows the display to slide down and lie nearly flat.
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please remove this guy from microsoft. we want someone with a vision.....
mismanaged microsoft on so many levels.
@inspiron41
Thank you for your deep and obviously well demonstrated, profound professional reasoning.
@Failbait
He's right though, the only thing Ballmer has been succesful at is the tired Windows & Office business, and he almost even managed to fuck that up with the Vista fiasco. Ballmer has mocked competitors and predicted many products to fail or getting steamrolled by MS, but he was wrong every single time. Think Google (search, ad market, e-mail, mobile), Apple (mobile, tablets, operating systems), but there are more. There's so much more innovation coming from Microsofts competitors, and all Ballmer can do is follow and imitate.
I've never liked Gates when he was in charge, who was by no means perfect or on top of everything in his days, but compared to Ballmer he's a visionary.
@drange
$4.5 billion profit!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
@MarkAnderson
My point is not that they are not printing money, my point is that they are failing to compete in any of the 'new' markets, which will bite them in the ass a few years down the road. Search, mobile, online ad delivery, PMP, tablets, they are trailing everywhere. I'm also not saying Microsoft is a sinking ship or anything, just that they seem to be stuck in the Windows & Office business.
By the way, in case you hadn't noticed: tech companies everywhere are reporting record profits, so it's hardly a surprise Microsoft is also doing well in terms of earnings.
@inspiron41 Balmer was pretty spot on with Cloud computing...the next "BIG THING" whatever happened to that? oh ya...people stoped caring and the bubble deflated.
The biggest problem with Vista, was not Vista itself, but rather Manufactures cutting corners on hardware. Microsoft tried to pull the Classic Apple Card, "You gotta upgrade or it ain't gonna work." Balmer didn't forsee the economic downturn, and people wanting 400 dollar laptops, partially his fault, but you can't completely blame him.
MS office 2007 on the other hand, got a lot of praise after the initial knee-jerk business reaction "WE HATE CHANGE"... Most offices I know (in major companies) all use office 2007, and I can send .docx files with no worries.
Also, have you USED windows 7? Snap, Peek, and other behind the scenes inovation are GREAT....and the indexing system of windows 7 blows the socks off of linux or OSX.
You're right, hes not doing a great job, and there is room for improvement, but its not like he is running the company into the ground or anything as you are making it seem.