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> It’s the difference between Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

Personally I'm hoping that Microsoft lures Gates back into the CEO position. Or failing that, places a CEO who is accountable to Gates as chief visionary.

For all the nasty things people have said about Gates (and I've said my share), it was a huge loss to Microsoft's position as a market leader when he stepped away from control of the company. Ballmer's tenure as CEO has been, on balance, a disaster for the company even though there were some monetary benefits. Ballmer was, and remains, totally f'n clueless.

I believe Bill Gates' return to Microsoft would be not unlike Steve Jobs' return to Apple -- it would serve to revitalize the product line, inspire the employees, all of those good things.

Ballmer's tenure as CEO has been, on balance, a disaster for the company even though there were some monetary benefits. Ballmer was, and remains, totally f'n clueless.

Ruthless... but clueless. Yup.

Personally I'm hoping that Microsoft lures Gates back into the CEO position. Or failing that, places a CEO who is accountable to Gates as chief visionary.

Agreed. I don't think they can get Gates back at this point, but they need a visionary. They are doing well with Xbox, Windows, Office, etc., but they are also flailing around with mobile devices and some other offerings.

Between some of the Windows RT stuff, the Kin stuff, and a few others, they have wasted a few billion, but more importantly, they let themselves get sidetracked.