Bill isn't going back and Ballmer will be there for some time for a couple of reasons. 1) Bill approves and 2) The board approves. Outsiders have traditionally had a tough go at Microsoft and it appears the board feels there is no internal candidate to replace Ballmer.

>There's a recurring theme that Microsoft acts like a school of piranha. Each piranha readily devours competition or other piranha within Microsoft. In theory this ecosystem lets the cream rise to the top. In reality, this doesn't happen: The bureaucracy of the giant corporation means that the piranha with the most connections and influence wins, not the piranha with the best ideas.
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>With Bill in charge, Microsoft ran more like a 7 headed dragon. Sure there was still competition at feeding time, but the heads were given direction and still nourished the central body. There was no cannibalism and when it was time to cut off a head, the decision was ultimately made by Bill.
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>Microsoft needs to go back to being a 7 headed dragon and Ballmer isn't the guy to do it. He's squandered the last X years while MS gets it's ass kicked on many fronts.
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>I will never own any Apple products (I hate closed ecosystems/architecture and I despise Steve Jobs despite his brilliance), but damn is it hard to keep supporting Microsoft.
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>Office Ribbons suck - why no option to turn on classic menus for power users?
>Zune sucked - the hardware was actually nice but that horrible Zune app lives on.
>Windows Mobile sucked - it took Apple to figure out touchscreen... good riddance stylus.
>Vista sucked unless you had a monster computer to run it on.
>Windows Phone 7 sucks unless you like the idea of going back a few years feature-set wise.
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>Apple has captured the upcoming generation... go to any college campus to see this.
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>Microsoft needs better vision, this school of piranha stuff isn't cutting it. Screw philanthropy Bill, please come back!