Now that Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has started his two-year goodbye from a day-to-day role at the company, it’s time for CEO Steve Ballmer to set a resignation date, too.
Since Gates stepped down as CEO in 2000 in favor of Ballmer, the company has floundered technically and strategically.
But Ballmer has made gaffes of his own in his longtime role as head of the company’s business side. They include an undistinguished push into business applications to compete with Oracle, financial maneuvers that have failed to stir the stock – which has slumped 16 percent so far this year – and continuing antitrust problems in the United States and Europe.
It’s not likely that Ballmer will stay on as CEO after Gates steps down as the company’s chief software architect, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, who has watched Microsoft for almost 20 years.
Losing both Gates and Ballmer will spell a big change for Microsoft. But it’s likely to be a positive one. At this point, Ballmer’s associated more with the hard-charging business tactics that led to Microsoft’s antitrust woes and a low stock price that’s sapping employee morale.
Every Microsoft F-up means more glory for Mac, BSD, and Linux, so I say let him stay. Ballmer will not function without Bill.
Maybe Dvorak was right (sort of). Perhaps the stars are aligning and Jobs will take over as CEO of Microsoft.
After all, there has been lots of discussion that Microsoft might buy Apple to get the Unix foundation they apparently need (not to mention a little “cool” factor). There are also discussions of a possible merger/collaboration between MS and Apple, that Apple will pre-load Windows on Macs, and even that Apple would dump Mac OS X in favor of Windows altogether (Dvorak’s personal creation).
http://tinyurl.com/jpuf8
http://tinyurl.com/gharr
All of these are hard to take seriously at face value. But if Microsoft purchased Apple or if the two mergered, Jobs would be a shoe-in to become CEO. Currently, Jobs is the golden child of the tech industry. He would bring a lot of clout to any company, even MS.
How would the Mac community react to that? I would say it would be the same as when Bungie, the best game maker for the Mac at the time, was purchased by Microsoft. Bungie said they were still dedicated to the Mac and that Halo would (eventually) ship for the Mac. Mac gamers were indignant. Halo did finally ship for the Mac but Mac games have floundered ever since Bungie left the fold. There is still lingering resentment. Imagine that but 1000 times worse.
If Apple and Microsoft merged, it would likely end the Mac as we know it. Of course, this will likely never happen since it would probably all be quashed by calls for government anti-trust oversight.