News Steve Ballmer to retire as Microsoft CEO

They've given him 12 more mths to drag it down even further?

 

I think the monkey dance video should be embedded at the end of this article

 

Either he stays and manages the exit or he bails and leaves a gap in the middle. I'd prefer the former.

 

Seconded!

 

If he doesn't leave like this I'll be disappointed...



*watches youtube clip* ... oh, that's what you meant by 'monkey dance'...

 

Cheesecake!

 

I am now content.

 

If they have Chuck Norris on the committee we are sure to get bad A** CEO
Also Is it just me that gets the feeling of, Right i have reorganised everything, now its up to you schmucks to work out what the hell your supposed to do.

EDIT: WOW M$ shares rose almost 9% when the news broke

 

I think Ballmer is trying to leave before the company collapses in his hands, or at least leave before the company reaches it's worst. With tablets gaining popularity, linux gaining more server attention (it's better for cloud servers), the bad publicity of Windows 8, Windows RT, MS Surface Pro, Xbox 1, and the overall absence of Windows Phone, MS has a bleak future. I get the impression Windows phone is considered pretty good, but it came way too late.

 

Everybody who has tried Windows Phone loves it. But they all say that they would never have considered trying it if it wasn't by some coincidence shoving one in their hands. Most people admit feeling scared off because it looks so different from iOS and Android, which to most people look so similar that they confuse them.

Then there is the reputation for a dearth of first-party apps, while third-party apps are often superior. But nobody realises that they exist.

Windows 8/RT has the same problem. Everybody has heard it is crap, but once they use it they actually quite like it. Compare this to Google Chrome, which is hailed as the next big thing while selling dismally.

I think that the problem here is of corporate image. Everybody wants to see Microsoft fail, because it is seen as a monopolising colossus run by suits that oppresses its plucky competitors run by hip geeks. For some reason Apple and Google have really managed to keep that image going, even though Apple and Google now are bigger monopolising colossi than Microsoft.

Microsoft has the big problem of trying to become hip geeks again. Ballmer's monkey dance won't do it. Nor will the dance and click commercials of the Surface tablets. It needs to get rid of its complacent 90's millionaires, and start afresh with new, hungry staff and new ideas.

 

+1

I thought Microsoft's purchase of Nokia was a positive step in the right direction, it not only saved a known trusted brand, but has also bought diversity to the market place.

..however I am glad the monkey is leaving.

 

I watched the Windows 1.0 advert... Then I watched the 'Monkey Dance'... Then my palm met my face. Hard...

 

Fare thee well, Monkeyboy!

 

+1 for Windows phone - although I believe this is a great product because they needed something to give them market share - it works really well (although not including copy/paste on release was a huge oversight).

They should provide companies outside of Nokia with incentives to do more with it, but I doubt they will - more competition for droid/ios can only be a good thing.

 

Can you transfer Microsoft Office files from a Microsoft Windows PC to a Microsoft Windows Phone through USB to open with Microsoft Office Mobile yet?

 

The difference is Apple products are often considered "elitist", and most people don't realize how huge Apple really is. Google gives out plenty of free services that people want and use daily, which makes them pretty hard to hate, even if a product happens to not be all that great. Microsoft is known to ruin business out of anticompetition, they try new ideas whether people want them or not, and they have blatantly greedy business tactics. Obviously Apple and Google do some greedy things, but they're either more subtle about it or their customers find it easier to justify.

In principal, you're correct. In reality, you're unfortunately wrong. The reason Windows was so successful for so long is because for nearly 20 years, it operated almost exactly the same; it was intended for the general public, and the general public does not like change. Setting aside the restrictions and tablet-focus of Windows 8, people hated Windows 8 just simply because it was too different. I personally hate MS and Windows in general, but I actually thought Windows 8 was pretty good. Actually, my personal gripe with Windows 8 is the redundancy of the old desktop - the classic desktop could've been replaced entirely.

The unfortunate thing is while people want windows for what it's always been, the Windows we've known for the past couple decades is not going to keep with the times. iOS and Android became popular because they not only had hardware that you don't use on traditional PCs but their interfaces were different, so nobody had a reason to expect it to work like regular PCs. As stated by someone else, one of the reasons Windows RT failed is because it was called Windows while being incompatible with most Windows software - people expected a regular PC with a touchscreen and their expectations failed.

 

But how will i calibrate maximum volume on my devices now, without Ballmer defining the standard of maximum ?