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Ballmer - Trusting Vista and Battling Google

Posted by Zonk on from the war-stories dept.

Carnivore24 wrote to mention a C|Net article discussing Steve Ballmer's morning keynote at Gartner's Symposium/ITxpo. From the article: "'I have never, honestly, thrown a chair in my life,' Microsoft's CEO said ... Ballmer also touched on a variety of areas related to Microsoft's competition with Google. The software maker will compete 'the good old-fashioned way, with innovation,' he said. 'There are many things--who knows?--Google may or may not do. If you read the papers today, other than curing cancer, Google will do everything.'"

6 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Rootin for Google by LilGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'll root for google up until the day they become too big for their (b)riches, at which point I'll root for the next underdog.

    VIVA AMERICA!

    --

    You're nothing; like me.
  2. It's built right in! by Valacosa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the article:
    "...such as efforts to improve the Web browser and make the operating system more resilient."
    Uh - could I uninstall one and keep the other? I doubt it.

    --
    "Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
  3. Well... by Sheetrock · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I think that, as yesterday demonstrated, the future of computing should not rely entirely on access to online services. That alone may very well determine the winner in this struggle.

    For decades we've had to face losing important work to power outages. But Internet outages are just as menacing -- and indeed, where one can get a battery to power their digital workhorses there is no such analog for Internet power. Not to mention the inherent threat of viruses spyware or hackers that comes from Internet connectivity, or frankly the less than cohesive user experience and unconsistent interface websites present.

    Despite being oft (and many times unfairly) maligned by self-proclaimed computer experts Microsoft has irrevocably broken the yoke of the client-server relationship that has held computing back and is single-handedly responsible for the microcomputer revolution. The last twenty-five years would not have been impossible without them, and it's pure fantasy to suggest otherwise.

    Consequently, I don't think it will be a question of whether or not we will be using Vista but merely how Microsoft will have managed to improve upon the mostly unimproveable experience of Windows XP. If they compete with anything, it will be their own success.

    --

    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




    1. Re:Well... by JasonKChapman · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Despite being oft (and many times unfairly) maligned by self-proclaimed computer experts Microsoft has irrevocably broken the yoke of the client-server relationship that has held computing back and is single-handedly responsible for the microcomputer revolution. The last twenty-five years would not have been impossible without them, and it's pure fantasy to suggest otherwise.

      That's a bit revisionist. Microsoft rode the personal computer wave. It didn't create it. Z-80-based CP/M machines had already broken the client-server relationship and had proven that stand-alone, even portable, computers would find business users waiting with open arms. Those of us who were selling, ready-to-go with WordStar, SuperCalc, and custom dBase applications, had already seen the future. It was coming no matter which OS came down the pipe.

      And if any company can be said to be single-handedly responsible for the microcomputer revolution, it would be IBM. It was the weight of that name that got the second wave of people believing that there just might be something to this "personal computer thing."

      --
      Sorry, I'm a writer. That makes you raw material.
  4. Vista doesn't trust YOU!! by RentonSentinel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How can I trust an OS that doesn't trust me?

    Vista doesn't trust my monitor enough to stream my glorious Blu-ray DVD to the screen... so how can I trust Vista?

  5. Oh my gawd! by DaveM753 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    FTA:
    "I'm going to trust Vista on day one," Ballmer said. "I bet most people in this audience will trust it day one--on their home computer," he joked. "I'm trying to be honest among friends."
    /FTA

    Sure he'll trust it. He profits from it. I just can't believe anyone would fall for this line of B.S.

    Yeah, like he's one of our friends. And the worst part is, TONS of people actually DO fall for this B.S. There are too many sheep on this planet.

    Blah! Okay, I'm done ranting now.