Even Ballmer Sees Windows Vista As Joke Fodder

Windows 7 development has been a breeze compared to Windows Vista, and the bad memories of Vista are starting to fade to the point where Microsoft is apparently ready to start joking about it. In a speech to Stanford University students Wednesday evening, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did just that.

Ballmer was talking about the necessity for innovation in the software industry, and how the fact that software never wears out over time like physical goods do, when he tossed in a surprising Vista zinger. "A product like Windows is, in a sense, only as good as its last release or two," Ballmer said.

The comment triggered several seconds of giggling from audience members, and Ballmer acknowledged that he was, in fact, making light of the Vista situation. "I kind of knew what I was doing when I walked down that road," said Ballmer.

It's not the first time Ballmer has brought up Vista in a less-than-flattering manner. In April 2008, Ballmer referred to Vista as "a work in progress" and hinted that Microsoft might extend the June 30 deadline it had set for Windows XP.

In a Q&A following the speech at Stanford, a student asked Ballmer about Microsoft's plans for Windows Azure, the development platform for cloud-based applications that's slated for launch later this year.

Windows Azure is at the backbone of Microsoft's cloud strategy and represents "a good part of the future" of Microsoft's Windows Server business and SQL Server business, each of which pulls in billions in aggregate revenue, Ballmer replied.

"You don't get the name Windows around Microsoft if you're not important to us," Ballmer said.

Ballmer also fielded what has to be one of the most commonly asked questions for anyone who works at Microsoft. Noting that Microsoft hasn't done much in the way of breakthrough innovation in the past, one audience member asked Ballmer for examples of technology areas in which Microsoft sees itself as a leader in the future.

Ballmer offered Xbox Live, Sharepoint, and the revamped user interface in Office 2007 as examples of Microsoft innovation, and took issue with the student's premise.

"I think we've done a lot of innovative things over the last several years, and yet so have others, and I think it's sort of one of the important things to remember," he said.