http://www.osnews.com/story/14917/Will_Microsoft_Be_the_Same_Interviews_with_Gates_s_Successors Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:02:53 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread?134309 http://osnews.com/thread?134309 ..who will we focus our anger and frustration on? Fri, 16 Jun 2006 20:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ronald Vos) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134326 http://osnews.com/thread?134326 Teh Steve
Steve Ballmer
Linus Torvalds

just like now Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Cloudy) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134330 http://osnews.com/thread?134330 Bill Gates is captain of a supertanker, running at full speed, with the current. It takes miles and miles to turn one of those. He hands the helm to someone else, not today, but in two years.

It'll be 2010 before any visible changes show up in Microsoft technology, at the earliest. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mipeligro) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134347 http://osnews.com/thread?134347 According to proper (American) grammar it should be "Gates'" instead of "Gates's"; I'm assuming that this is a fairly universal rule for english grammar though I may be wrong.Edited 2006-06-16 21:28 Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Symgeosis) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134351 http://osnews.com/thread?134351 Ballmer is even more hostile and aggressive than Gates is/was. We can probably expect more of the same. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vitae) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134355 http://osnews.com/thread?134355 She's obviously never met any of Microsoft's management. Things are more than likely to stay the same, and probably get worse. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (segedunum) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134360 http://osnews.com/thread?134360 There are two occurances of "Gates's" in Thom's paragraph. The first is awkward, but since it's a contraction for "Gates is", it's correct. The second is a possessive, but the correction for that should be "Gates'" not "Gates" -- the apostrophe is needed to indicate possession. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mipeligro) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134367 http://osnews.com/thread?134367 Sir, you may want to examine my post a little more closely... Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Symgeosis) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134372 http://osnews.com/thread?134372 Ballmer isn't getting the keys to the kingdom, the summary itself says that Gates is going to be replaced at Microsoft by Craig Mundie and Ray Ozzie. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 22:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Celerate) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134375 http://osnews.com/thread?134375 * 11 billion or so shares issued over the years

* Stock price in for past five year decline

* Revenue growth declining

* OpenDocument/open format movement spreading

* Plummeting PC hardware prices

* Feature saturation for office software

* Linux

* Open source/commodity software putting downward pressure on Microsoft software/services prices

* Internal staff dissatisfaction/desertion

* Attempts to create new revenue streams like the Xbox failing

* Years of poor engineering choices coming back to haunt them and making it more and more difficult to modernize their operating system

Whoever comes in to replace Gates and Balmer have their work cut out for them. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 22:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MediaSex) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134383 http://osnews.com/thread?134383 true. '" got by me.

so we're 50/50 on this one. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 22:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Cloudy) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134384 http://osnews.com/thread?134384 That just seems strange. Ballmer and Gates go way back, plus Steve has the visibility. I have a hard time believing he won't be running it from behind the scenes unless he really is just a moutpiece. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 22:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vitae) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134385 http://osnews.com/thread?134385 My prediction is that they'll use the XBox(whatever) to prototype an OS that doesn't suck, then give it some backwards compatibility server features, and that'll be what follows Vista. IOW, load-shed the cruft, the way FOSS does on a far more steady basis.
But shall it have mattered? Likely, no. Continuing maturity of GNU/Linux distros will eat Redmond's lunch. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 22:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (smitty_one_each) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134394 http://osnews.com/thread?134394 I suppose I should have been slightly more thorough; I only bothered to read the title and the actual article so I didn't bother checking the actual blurb. However, we digress from the main topic.

When I learned of the changes happening, I was worried that Ballmer would gain more influence and position. However, I am relieved to see that is not the case. I hope that the changes will better Microsoft and the community. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 23:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Symgeosis) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134429 http://osnews.com/thread?134429 Whenever I hear "Craig Mundie" I think of the very first scene in the revolution os movie. Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:08:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (amerine) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134430 http://osnews.com/thread?134430 Lets get some perspective here. Microsoft is not Bill Gates, nor is Bill Gates Microsoft. Microsoft is an enormous organisation that has a great deal of momentum behind it. Even if Bill was hit by a bus tomorrow, Microsoft would go on.

Remember, there is a great deal going on at Microsoft more than what Bill or any other single individual can control. There's too much technology within the organisation for Bill to be the sole captain of the ship.

Also, he's not leaving at all, he's just changing his focus to lesser time consuming roles. Microsoft has some of the brightest minds and exciting pipelines.

In my view, this move has been known for a great deal of time even if, initially, only at a high level for a few years and the organisation has been positioning itself ever since.

Lets face facts, one day Bill wont be here anymore and Microsoft will continue to live and breath. Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (flanque) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134435 http://osnews.com/thread?134435 Holy shit. Am I the only one to notice the irony of this idiot?

Mary Jo Foley, one of the best known investigative journalists covering the Redmond software juggernaut, is editor of Ziff Davis' Microsoft Watch newsletter and web site. Foley has covered the tech industry for 19 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet News, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet.

segedunum, a nobody.Edited 2006-06-17 03:07 Sat, 17 Jun 2006 03:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Varg Vikernes) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134439 http://osnews.com/thread?134439 I did the same exact thing.

I thought, "hmm, that sounds like some high mucky muck at Microsoft." Sat, 17 Jun 2006 03:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tmack) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134486 http://osnews.com/thread?134486 "The first is awkward, but since it's a contraction for "Gates is", it's correct. The second is a possessive, but the correction for that should be "Gates'"..."

Actually they're both possessive, stepping back is a gerund (the -ing form of a verb used as a noun). They are also both correct. Lynn Truss's punctuation book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, citing Fowler's Modern English Usage, tells us an 's is required after modern names ending in S. The only an apostrophe after an S rule is used for the plurals of nouns, not for modern names, at least not as a matter of principal.

This whole area, the possessive apostrophe with modern names ending in S is indicated to be subject to stylistic choices more than absolute rules, so "Bill Gates' company Microsoft" and "Bill Gates's company Microsoft" are both acceptable. Sat, 17 Jun 2006 07:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Jarsto) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134491 http://osnews.com/thread?134491 I think new strategy is that Micosoft will be broken up into several companies over the next couple of years.

Neal Saferstein Sat, 17 Jun 2006 07:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (nealsaferstein) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134500 http://osnews.com/thread?134500 ok let me get this straight ...
Gates and *his people* are the technodweebs in MS and Balmer and his croud are the MBA type ... I though MS was bad now but I guess I just have to wait and see how much worst it can get ... IMO Balmer is the worst thing to ever happen to MS. Oh and while interoperability is great the whole MS "we are better than anything *nix can offer" FUD just makes me wonder how long the new vibe would last. And MS used to be great a very long time ago ... Sat, 17 Jun 2006 09:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (cg0def) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134508 http://osnews.com/thread?134508 Ozymandias

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away. Sat, 17 Jun 2006 10:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (diskinetic) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134531 http://osnews.com/thread?134531 Oh and while interoperability is great the whole MS "we are better than anything *nix can offer" FUD

What about the same vibe from F/OSS? It's ok when it's from them though, right? Sat, 17 Jun 2006 14:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sappyvcv) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134536 http://osnews.com/thread?134536 That's an orthographic convention; it has nothing to do with English grammar whatsoever. Sat, 17 Jun 2006 14:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (siride) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134565 http://osnews.com/thread?134565 Holy shit. Am I the only one to notice the irony of this idiot?

Blah, blah, blah.....She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet.

Quoting back some meaningless, supposed, experience isn't going to make you a 'somebody'. All this means what, exactly? She's a nobody journalist who's got into tech and IT and displays a stunning lack of knowledge when compared with us out there who actually use the software that Microsoft produces, are on the receiving end of it and who've dealt with Microsoft and how they operate rather than write articles about it. Now that's a proper definition of irony :-).

Varg Vikernes: Quotes back stuff that isn't his own and is unable to formulate his own replies. Sat, 17 Jun 2006 16:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (segedunum) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?134701 http://osnews.com/thread?134701 Eats, Shoots and Leaves, citing Fowler's Modern English Usage, tells us an 's is required after modern names ending in S. The only an apostrophe after an S rule is used for the plurals of nouns, not for modern names, at least not as a matter of principal....

Yes, AFAIK both are correct usage (in UK English anyway) - with an exception for Jesus' which according to Lynn Fowler cannot be Jesus's. (I'm omitting quotes to avoid confusion here.)

BTW it's "principle", not "principal" in this context!

Gosh, I'm picky today Sun, 18 Jun 2006 10:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (biteydog) Comments