'We Are What You Would Call a '21st Century Consumer Electronics Firm''

Summary

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He studied with bill Gates at Harvard University, followed him to Microsoft when it was set up, and 20 years later stepped into the CEO's shoes when Gates vacated them. In the six years since, Steve Ballmer has transformed the company, leading it from software to video game consoles and, later this month, to portable entertainment devices (the Zune). In its core software business, Microsoft, whose revenues now top $44 billion, is launching an all-new operating system, Vista, by the end of the year (early next year for retail markets) and also a new version of its profitable Office suite, Office 2007. On his first visit as CEO in late 2004, when he inaugurated Microsoft's campus in Hyderabad, Ballmer had met BT's Kushan Mitra. Two years on, he talks to Mitra again on how Microsoft has changed, the challenges the company faces as it transforms into a 'multi-core' technology company and the future of the company in a Web 2.0 environment. Excerpts:

There are a lot of products you have unveiled so far this year. Can you talk us through those?

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Extract

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'We Are What You Would Call a '21st Century Consumer Electronics Firm''

2006 has been a great year for us. Vista and Office 2007 are around the corner. We have recently launched the new Windows 'Live' search and have a lot of exciting new products that we plan to unveil under the 'Live' platform. There are a lot of new games and services we are launching in the console business. For example, a few days ago we announced how Xbox360 customers can download music and movies onto their console. Our Windows Mobile software has become the software of choice for smart handheld devices, and we are soon lau...

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