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- anderzole, on 06/26/2008, -1/+49another question: Was Ballmer the right man for Microsoft when he took over?
- Frostek, on 06/26/2008, -4/+37I hope they keep him in charge. He's doing a beneficial job from my point of view... :-)
(I'm a Linux User) - ho0ber, on 06/26/2008, -2/+32Developers developers developers developers!
- averagejoesgym, on 06/26/2008, -1/+22I think that Gates has had one big ace in the hole. Although he is an intense, ruthless businessman, he comes off as a non-threatening, unassuming nerd. This has helped people underestimate him. That's a great asset. Balmer comes across naturally, as an intense, ruthless businessman. That's not a great asset.
- kraetos, on 06/26/2008, -1/+21I don't like how Bill ran Microsoft, but he did a great job of running Microsoft the way he wanted to and made a metric ***** of money in the process. Ballmer can't do what Bill did.
- AlphaNeonic, on 06/26/2008, -3/+22Ok, who else saw "George Cloony"?
- bradleyland, on 06/26/2008, -1/+19When I read the email rant from Bill Gates from the front page the other day, I almost felt bad for him. He clearly "gets it", but he seems to have chosen business goals over software goals, hence his company, and his staff, focus on business first and software second. There are a million and one perspectives on running a business, but the question of product first or business first is a big one. IMO, companies that put business first at the _expense_ of their product are doomed to failure. This is the direction Microsoft is headed. They must turn that around in order to remain viable.
- StandardsDT, on 06/26/2008, -0/+16As it was said in an article that I read a year or 2 ago Ballmer really needs to be removed in order for Microsoft be set on a right and better path. I don't care how much you dislike Google or Linux. But you don't go throwing temper tantrums and throw chairs in the process saying your going to kill a company because they do things better then your company. That just shows a lack of self control and proves that you cannot handle the competition in a professional manner and that you should not be a CEO of a major corporation.
- Phocion55, on 06/26/2008, -0/+12They make affordable XXXL pant sizes too, why don't I just gain another 200 pounds for the hell of it?
- gquaglia, on 06/26/2008, -0/+11I agree. Everyday he remains at MS, it allows users to see the folly of a computer monoculture and realize that there are other options out there.
- cgeier, on 06/26/2008, -1/+11No way, the company needs new blood. Desperately
- KaivenTor, on 06/26/2008, -0/+10I'm not sure that Ballmer understands what most of his customers need. Business customers, sure, but Microsoft is already paying close attention to them. It's the general consumer that the company has been passing over and I think Ballmer kind of embodies that whole "You'll do what we want you to do cause we're Microsoft and we don't have to listen to you" type of attitude that is currently killing the company.
Maybe that was one of the big things that Gates brought to the company, the ability to know what people wanted or needed and pursue that as a business asset. Ballmer seems intent on staying the current course with the company, which is dissapointing because they do need to make some changes. - amnesiac096, on 06/26/2008, -1/+10because it'll run like ***** and no matter how fast or how large your computer is, it'll suck donkey dick
- Jexie, on 06/26/2008, -0/+9I'm not sure if he's the right man for MS, but he's definitely the right man for Ubuntu/Canonical and Apple (when he's at MS...)
- ericthebuzzsaw, on 06/26/2008, -2/+10'Give it up for me!'
- mrBitch, on 06/26/2008, -0/+8Bill's email : http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/25/bill-gates-20 ...
Even more amazing, is that Bill's email rant about how certain Microsoft products were a usability nightmare was an email Bill wrote in 2003. It's 5 years later, and Microsoft has done very little at all to address Bill's concerns outlined in his email rant to Microsoft's Jim Allchin.
For an example : http://nick.typepad.com/blog/2008/05/world-wide-te ...
Microsoft gained dominance using similar business practices to those employed by J. D. Rockefeller ( US Standard Oil, 1912 ).
In fact, every competitor has been beaten into submission not by Microsoft producing better products, but by Microsoft wielding the legal stick (or outright just buying their competitors up).
Case in point : http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9805/18/monopoly ...
" Marc Schildkraut led the FTC's antitrust investigation in the early 1990s into Microsoft's practice of having equipment manufacturers pay for the MS-DOS operating system on every computer they sold, regardless of whether it was installed or not.
The investigation began in 1990 and was concluded in 1994. But it was too late to be of any help to DR DOS, a rival operating system owned by Novell, Inc.
Microsoft had already built its market share." - JeffMaster, on 06/26/2008, -1/+8sure he's the right guy, I mean... he LOVES that company!
- Kul7157, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7Yes, he should stay there. He's part of the solution...
*grin* - PhilMoskowitz, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7He's an empty suit and it's finally showing to the tune of billions of dollars.
- cthellis, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7It's not really disk size that matters as much as memory footprint, but those two traits tend to be pretty linked regardless. Meanwhile, devices are getting smaller and smaller, so the smaller your OS components are, the better you can wedge them into other hardware applications.
- briLo, on 06/26/2008, -0/+6I make my living supporting MS servers and software and I say please no Ballmer!!!!! Best step for MS would be to hand it over to J Allard or Ray Ozzie, hell, have co-ceo's, just get Ballmer out of the picture!
- shutaro, on 06/26/2008, -2/+8Developers! Developers! Developers!
- fLUx1337, on 06/26/2008, -9/+15No way, they need someone fresh, someone adventurous - somebody like Steve Jobs. He came back to Apple and turned the company around. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree that OSX is a superior OS to Windows, but go check out Apple and the OS pre-steve return. It was nearly as bad as Microsoft!
What they need to do is create Windows (or rename it!!) from scratch. Totally. Ditching most windows features and redesigning everything how it should be. (Though obviously knowing Microsoft this would probably be released as Windows 95 .....2095)
They should also stabilize Windows XP (or even Vista?) and support it long term, until the above is finished (2015, maybe).
Short term (5yrs) I'm sure they will make less money than the current plan (ship another unfinished OS), but long term this could turn Windows around from being a horrible OS to a respected one, something they need to do.
OSX Snow Leopard is planning on slimming things down, does anyone believe a new Windows OS will ever be slimmer than the previous? Or is there a limit to how bloated an OS can be? - WomensUnderwear, on 06/26/2008, -0/+6Ballmer is a ***** disaster
- fLUx1337, on 06/26/2008, -0/+6Don't comment if you don't know what your talking about! ;)
A large install usually means lots of bloat. That bloat has gotta be used somewhere....
In fact, if your using Windows Vista, get Process Explorer and see whats really eating all your ram/CPU:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb ...
I found SearchIndexer (the thing which indexes your files for the fast search) using nearly 300MB of my ram this morning! Guess what? It wasn't on my normal Windows Task Manager. That's bloat. (and Vista was hiding it from me, as if it didn't exist!)
Microsoft should just change their logo to a face palm, because I don't believe in hell they hire anyone with any skill nor anyone who wants to create a perfect OS, its all about money to them. Windows is broken, its trying so hard to get a new skin, but while its hanging on tightly to its pre-1995 roots, its not gonna happen. Ditch the taskbar, totally redo Explorer, do something with IE (like ditch it, include Firefox).
But I honestly believe Windows market share isn't dropping rapidly any time soon, MS can probably push at least 3 new [unfinished, bloated] OSes before then! ;) - Turbojugend27, on 06/26/2008, -0/+5"Nobodies going to buy it, it has no keyboard and costs 599 with a 3 years plan"
Words of wisdom from Balmer regarding the Iphone. How many Iphones has sold? - Elranzer, on 06/26/2008, -0/+5The flying chairs don't help, either.
- cthellis, on 06/26/2008, -0/+5Depends. How much chair-throwing will be in Windows 7?
- TheUngod, on 06/26/2008, -1/+5George Cloony did....because he's probably staring at his egotistical ass in a mirror right now.
- papastout, on 06/26/2008, -0/+4Too much coffee this morning jakatak? Sometimes a repeat is a good thing - shouting about it is not.
- schneb, on 06/26/2008, -0/+4"OSX Snow Leopard is planning on slimming things down, does anyone believe a new Windows OS will ever be slimmer than the previous?"
This is a good point, and really speaks volumes regarding Apple's concern regarding making OSX mean and lean. It takes guts to bring out a new OS, with all appearances as being the same as the last. It shows trust that their userbase will know the difference, and communicate that difference to the non-geek. - felipe1982, on 06/26/2008, -0/+4they don't care about making good products, or getting people to like them. They are stinking rich, and they are going to do whatever 'they' think is needed.
- plarp, on 06/26/2008, -3/+6a million dollars to anyone that can predict what business will be like in 10 years.. ***** i'd give a million if you can tell me what it'll be like in 2 years..
- carbonetc, on 06/26/2008, -2/+5The more slippage the better. I'll throw a party the day their Internet Explorer department is dismantled.
- YodaJones, on 06/26/2008, -0/+3Short answer: No. Ballmer was not the guy for the PAST 10 years much less the NEXT 10 years.
- m0rphling, on 06/26/2008, -0/+3No, he isn't.
- cthellis, on 06/26/2008, -1/+3No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.
- vidalsasoon, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2I'm not a big fan of Ballmer but at least he had the brains to pull out of the yahoo deal. Also, Ray Ozzie seems pretty competent so I'm not too worried.
- Laminarcissus, on 06/26/2008, -3/+5A *subtle* slippage? I actively dislike Apple on many fronts, have defended MS (like rooting for the Yankees), but I think *lots* of heads should roll for Vista.
When a company like MS has to do a million-and-one things, there are a thousand-and-one ways to find fault, but the fact of the matter is that the major OS releases from MS have always been a step forward, for users and the industry. Say they ripped off technology, call them anti-competitive, whatever, the major releases reset the user base and created a common-denominator starting point for where 90% of the world was going from there.
Vista, however, has left 90% of the world in disarray, because it's awful. If nothing else, MS should knock out Ballmer and the head of the Vista team, replace them, and simply say "look, these two new guys are going to use the whole company to make Vista right, and then we'll move on."
It's especially sickening because I don't know of anyone who can realistically argue with the statement that Microsoft Office 2007 is probably the greatest single achievement in large application development. Especially from a user standpoint -- it's very nearly perfect. The Office team should be locked in a room with the Vista code and not be allowed out until they've done it again. - helpfulcorn, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2Cocaine's a hell of a drug
- Meistro, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2Answer in short "HELL NO!"
- Snakedal337, on 06/26/2008, -1/+3Don't misquote people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo
He said "It may sell very well or not" but i'd agree with him, it is one of the most expensive devices and windows mobile phones are capable machines. You can't expect him to back a competitors product. I'd take an HTC over an iPhone any day. - schneb, on 06/26/2008, -1/+3(And I'm an Apple user.)
- drgirlfriend, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2Comment dugg for 'metric *****'
Charming colloquialism taxed. - jejones, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2For heaven's sake, Ballmer, please follow, as Paul Atreides would say, the broad path that leads ever downward to destruction. I look forward to the day that the Evil Empire falls, so Mr. Ballmer, push that pedal to the metal!
- fandyboy, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2GET ON YOUR FEET!!
WHO SAID SIT DOWN?!?! - akkibaba, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1Ballmer is the cancer killing Microsoft.
- nydwarf, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1Is Steve Ballmer even a man? I thought he was just an Ape like hominid.
- ren1999, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Ballmer is running the company into the ground. I'm from Seattle. All my friends say so too.
- HairyPoter, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Yesssssssss, Ballmer is the guy. He is Google's and Apple's secret weapon to keep M$ going down.
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