Microsoft CEO Concedes Licensing Plan Is Too Complex

Speaking at the Gartner Symposium ITXpo conference here, Ballmer said the company will clean up the language but did not indicate the pricing model will change. "You can wind up costing some customers more and that's problematic," Ballmer said of Software Assurance, which took effect Aug. 1.

Software Assurance and Microsoft's Volume 6.0 Licensing Programs do away with prior models of letting customers pay for upgrade versions instead of providing one set of fees for regular software updates.

"We still have customers who tell us today [they can't understand your end user license agreement," Ballmer added. "They're too long and complicated, so we're looking at simplifying [it. I guarantee you we are not going to simplify anything in a way that causes the kinds of hardships that we're seeing financially for some of our customers today."

Acknowledging that customers are reticent to update their Windows and Office desktops from 9.x versions, Microsoft agreed to help 40 large business customers conduct studies benchmarking the cost savings of upgrading, by shouldering the costs of the studies, which will be certified by Gartner.

The ROI on average is 10.5 months, said Rogers Weed, corporate vice president of Windows product management. "The business case is there," he said, citing reduced cost of management, and increased productivity. "We have a challenge to broaden people's awareness."