Steve Ballmer to Retire as Microsoft CEO

It's worth pointing out that Gabe Newell is a former Microsoft employee.

Think about it, Redmond.
 
Microsoft's real cash cow has been their sales of software to business customers. They could probably pull out of all consumer devices like tablets, gaming consoles, and phones and make a higher profit margin than they do today.

Part of the problem is business customers are looking to trim costs and are finally realizing just how much money they pay to Microsoft on an annual basis. Google Apps is replacing Microsoft software in some cases.
 
pcjunkie said:
Half Life 3 on GFWL only...that ought to give you nightmares! :eek:
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Fuck

That

Noise


MS would have to buy Steam/Valve.

Progression of the Windows UI:
Aero -> Metro -> Steam Big Picture

Click on anything not Steam releated and you get a paperclip guy pop-up "It looks like you are trying to do something productive. To help you out, I am going to bring up Steam so that you can play a game instead. Because, fuck work."
 
DejaWiz said:
Click on anything not Steam releated and you get a paperclip guy pop-up "It looks like you are trying to do something productive. To help you out, I am going to bring up Steam so that you can play a game instead. Because, fuck work."
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That's the best damn use of Clippy that I've ever heard of.
 
wonderfield said:
It's worth pointing out that Gabe Newell is a former Microsoft employee.

Think about it, Redmond.
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They would only release software when it was ready. I'm not sure Gabe has the temperment to run a company that is publically traded.
 
Good riddance. Couldn't happen fast enough. Still another year of his bullshit to go.
 
arr4ws said:
please NOT Julie Larson-Green... pLEASE
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The more you think about it, the more it NEEDS to be the ribbon lady. Think about it. They're not going to pull their heads out until they truly hit rock bottom, and Sinofsky's protege is just the man-woman for the job.
 
arr4ws said:
please NOT Julie Larson-Green... pLEASE
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Yahoo is doing excellent with a female CEO (making a decent comeback so far). Microsoft might do something like that to please investors and make a lot of news. Doubtful, but image means a lot these days. I'd like to see a person like Gates (no way he'd ever come back, and I think that's a good thing) come back in. CEO quality but still a nerd. Gates was both, Ballmer wasn't the nerd type, and I think it shows.
 
Up until the Windows 8/RT debacle, I would have worried that they might get someone worse.

But after that mess, I don't think that is possible unless they were dumb enough to hire Carly Fiorina.
 
Heatlessun may be out of a job soon lol

M$ loses have of its market value in the last 10 years? Amazing considering they are coming out with FLAWLESS products like the Zune, Vista, Win8, GFWL, and the Surface :lol
 
Ur_Mom said:
Yahoo is doing excellent with a female CEO (making a decent comeback so far). Microsoft might do something like that to please investors and make a lot of news. Doubtful, but image means a lot these days. I'd like to see a person like Gates (no way he'd ever come back, and I think that's a good thing) come back in. CEO quality but still a nerd. Gates was both, Ballmer wasn't the nerd type, and I think it shows.
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Women tend to be better at product development than men I think because they can empathize with end-users better. But the Ribbon Lady is no Marissa "The Fox" Mayer.

Too much Botox and not enough Vogue for me :D
 
Terminus said:
Women tend to be better at product development than men I think because they can empathize with end-users better. But the Ribbon Lady is no Marissa "The Fox" Mayer.

Too much Botox and not enough Vogue for me :D
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Sex has nothing to do with being able to understand the end user, sorry.
 
Ur_Mom said:
Yahoo is doing excellent with a female CEO (making a decent comeback so far). Microsoft might do something like that to please investors and make a lot of news. Doubtful, but image means a lot these days. I'd like to see a person like Gates (no way he'd ever come back, and I think that's a good thing) come back in. CEO quality but still a nerd. Gates was both, Ballmer wasn't the nerd type, and I think it shows.
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How about Ray Ozzie?
 
Damn, Linux only has one more year to get their crap together, assuming that someone with more common sense, becomes CEO at microcrap.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Sex has nothing to do with being able to understand the end user, sorry.
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Then why are more teachers and caregivers women?

Gender roles do exist whether you like it or not, don't pretend like you are above them either.
 
Terminus said:
Then why are more teachers and caregivers women?

Gender roles do exist whether you like it or not, don't pretend like you are above them either.
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Never said anything about gender roles. Understanding how End users work on a technical level however is not a gender role. You either understand fundamentally how technology works and how people interact with it, or you do not. Empathy never plays a role.
 
heatlesssun said:
There are people that make legitimate points against Windows 8, I have plenty of times but that gets ignored by some around here.

Making major concessions with Windows 8? Not with 8.1. Most of the changes in 8.1 were called for by people like myself that like Windows 8 such as better Start Screen management, better in the box training and better multitasking and multiple monitor support for the Modern UI. The Start Button, booting to the desktop, quicker access to the Shutdown controls, etc. were not high on my list of priorities but they don't really change the essence of Windows 8 and certainly more needs to be done beyond 8.1,
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So Microsoft listens to people who like the interface and try and improve it while not listening to the people who don't like their interface. Then do nothing for the people who want their desktop experience back. If they want to make it more marketable they need to listen to the people who aren't convinced not the people who already bought into it. You say the PC Market is dying, I've heard you say it at least a hundred times. This is like saying that everyone bought in on the tablet movement and dumping PCs. Take into consideration that hardware is much better than years ago. Well instead of Billy buying a new PC every 3 years now he can buy one every 5 years. Billy thinks to himself, well since I don't have to buy a whole new PC, I can get a tablet to check email, play a game, or check my Facebook without having to boot their PC. Billy's computer dies a year later, discovers his tablet can't do what his PC did when he wanted to play that MMO, or Call of Duty, create that resume, or type a paper. He still goes to buy another PC just took him a bit longer. I believe is what your seeing is like a bubble, the time in which people replace their OS has significantly increased. People who have the money to burn and have a PC but see their buddy has a tablet, they want one to, human instinct. Windows tried to tie these two things together and well for the desktop user, it didn't go over so well, the vision to do this may have been a good one but in practicality, it didn't go over as intended. Problem is instead of listing to the bad feedback, they doubled down on what people didn't like. They should have fixed the desktop issues with 8.1 and all this UI fluff we are getting should be in 8.2, or take bit longer and do both. It's like feeding a dog catfood, it is getting it's stomach full because it was hungry but not getting the vitamins and minerals needed to function as a dog. The desktop users need desktop functionality back and we get more metro UI, you get an update to your OS, but you still are left with a dysfunctional desktop experience. You want better start screen management while some still don't even want a start screen.

I think Microsoft needs to sit down with a keyboard and mouse, I know they may look at those dinosaur components that just about everyone still uses in some way. Then try and use Windows 8 with it, no touchscreen, not a laptop with multi-touch pads, all the sudden people can't tab out of a Windows App, minimize, close app without using alt+f4, using Win key, or Win+D keys. Not every user even knows shortcut commands, I knew someone who said they hit the power button cause they couldn't get out of an app. There is too much confusion and the common sense things people are used to are now counter intuitive, or just not there.

I've read this article a few times. One thing I get from it, even though Ballmer is stepping down, their focus isn't changing. This doesn't mean they are going to listen and fix the Win8 desktop experience, this means they are going to find someone else to force feed you what you don't want but tell you from a different perspective thinking since the bait changed people will bite. I love Star Wars and Yoda himself wouldn't be able to convince me otherwise with his Jedi mind tricks.
 
soekev said:
How about Ray Ozzie?
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Great nerd, but not sure if he'd have the business part of it. Gates had both. Ballmer had the business but not the nerd. Ozzie is awesome, but still not sure if he'd be the CEO material.
 
One thing you could never say about Ballmer is that he wasn't at least energetic. Sadly, he tended to flip-flop between "crazy like a fox" and just "crazy". Hopefully they choose someone who is willing to make reforms to both Microsoft's products and its leadership as both are needed.
 
xX326Xx said:
I think Microsoft needs to sit down with a keyboard and mouse, I know they may look at those dinosaur components that just about everyone still uses in some way. Then try and use Windows 8 with it, no touchscreen, not a laptop with multi-touch pads, all the sudden people can't tab out of a Windows App, minimize, close app without using alt+f4, using Win key, or Win+D keys. Not every user even knows shortcut commands, I knew someone who said they hit the power button cause they couldn't get out of an app. There is too much confusion and the common sense things people are used to are now counter intuitive, or just not there.
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I use Windows 8 everyday with just a conventional keyboard and mouse and if what you're saying were true I have no idea how I'd ever use able to do so. I don't really use short cuts, the ones I do use I've used with prior versions of Windows as well. 8.1 does help quite a bit with keyboards and mice and some discoverability issues.
 
It's about time.

Although in a way, I will miss Ballmer. If he had stayed longer, maybe Linux might have taken the desktop too.
 
I just don't get why people focus so much on the CEO. It's not like they don't have any power but big decisions are not their own, but the board's. People are so naive.
 
dgz said:
I just don't get why people focus so much on the CEO. It's not like they don't have any power but big decisions are not their own, but the board's. People are so naive.
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Unless the CEO is a known bully with the penchant for having people removed in various ways when they threaten his position w/in the company in anyway...but yeah, you have a point.... ;)
 
BladeVenom said:
It's about time.

Although in a way, I will miss Ballmer. If he had stayed longer, maybe Linux might have taken the desktop too.
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Pretty big maybe, the latest OS market share numbers from Stat Counter: http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201301-201308

Code: 
Date	Win7	WinXP	MacOSX	Vista	Win8	iOS	Android	Linux	Other
2013-08	51.96	20.54	7.26	5.24	6.95	4.32	1.69	1.32	0.7

It's easy to point at Microsoft's failures but it looks like everyone except Microsoft has not only failed on the desktop but in such spectacular fashion as to fuel what many think is the biggest POS OS ever that has easily dominated OS X and Linux. I know, Windows 8 comes preinstalled on most PCs, just like Android phones come with Android and iPhones with iOS.

But this is why 8 is what it is. Microsoft just assumed that the desktop was safe, at least to the point that no other desktop OS had no hope in hell of ever touching even something as disliked as 8.
 
boduke said:
Unless the CEO is a known bully with the penchant for having people removed in various ways when they threaten his position w/in the company in anyway...but yeah, you have a point.... ;)
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8 was far from Ballmer's decision alone. There's no way 8 would have ever happened without Sinofsky and buy in from even Gates. From the rumors I've gathered, late during the development of 7 there was a lot of attention by various groups in Microsoft that were looking into tablet strategies. There were essentially two schools of thought, dedicated OS that was known as the Courier and those rumors were well known three years ago and those that wanted to extended Windows which was Sinofsky's choice. Apparently there was a HUGE battle over this at Microsoft, essentially the same points of controversy as we see in Windows 8. Ballmer and Gates liked the unified approach more and scrapped Courier.
 
heatlesssun said:
Ballmer and Gates liked the unified approach more and scrapped Courier.
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I would have loved to see Courier. I was upset when it was scrapped, because it was what I wanted, and it sounded great. Then, an extended wait for Surface. In the meantime, I bought an iPad. Surface will replace it, though. Waiting on the second generation ones first.
 
Ur_Mom said:
I would have loved to see Courier. I was upset when it was scrapped, because it was what I wanted, and it sounded great. Then, an extended wait for Surface. In the meantime, I bought an iPad. Surface will replace it, though. Waiting on the second generation ones first.
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Yeah, the Courier leaks were very interesting and seemed to have a heavy focus on pens which I think are important for many productive tasks that work with the tablet form factor. That's one thing that was curiously absent in this generation of Windows RT devices. My guess the performance from the Tegra 3 wasn't there and a cost issue.
 
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