Wow.. what a bunch of crap that article was. Look, Microsoft isn't without problems. They have plenty of them. But let's look at what's wrong with the article...

Metro named dropped. Whether it was for legal reasons or not, Microsoft always has code names for things under development and they're always dropped and changed before release.

Balmer gems. Boy, did he reach back in time to find things that Ballmer said. The iPhone quote sticks out particularly. I'll venture that you can randomly pick 100 corporations and find things at every one of them the CEO has said over they years that turned out to look stupid.

People leaving. Happens in every company. Kevin Johnson left years ago. Steven Sinofsky, it is assumed, butted heads with Ballmer when he wanted more power. In any company, the CEO will win that battle.

Google gaining traction. That doesn't mean Microsoft isn't getting wins. Look at the DoD contract I mentioned in another post on this thread. It's part of the economic system that when you have two competitors with pretty much equal products, both will get sales.

Naming conventions. It's been that way for years. This idiot reporter is just now bringing it up?

Developers, developers. How exactly is Microsoft eating every bit of profit from a developer? I don't see that anywhere in their developer tools.

Joel Spolsky once said that a tech company needs a tech guy at the top. That will Bill Gates. It isn't Ballmer. He's a sales guy. Joel is right on this. I've seen at least one prediction that Ballmer will be replaced by BillG this year in order to right the company. That would be a good thing.

>There's a succinct summary of MS's current woes at http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerkay/2013/01/02/microsoft-is-fast-turning-into-a-sideshow/ .
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>Some of the embedded links are enlightening and amusing.