RUMOR: MICROSOFT EMPLOYEES LEAVE IN DROVES DURING COMPANY WIDE MEETING

Microsoft employees allegedly left “in droves” during Steve Ballmer’s recent speech at the recent annual Microsoft Company Meeting.

The claims were made in comments at mini-Microsoft, a site authored by a a secret Microsoft employee who regularly blogs about internal changes at the software giant. The comments section of mini-microsoft’s latest blog post has provided some interesting insight into the closely guarded Microsoft company meeting over the years. Microsoft holds an annual meeting for its employees to rally the troops. Key Microsoft executives are usually in attendance to highlight any upcoming company wide changes and show off the latest work from Microsoft’s vast product teams.

Some of the anonymous comments at mini-Microsoft appear to indicate that a large number of employees were not present during Ballmer’s speech at the meeting. According to one commenter, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, was speaking whilst “people were leaving in droves.” Seattle PI spotted the comments on the blog and picked out a handful of interesting ones:

• What a sad spectacle. While SteveB was yacking away, people were leaving in droves. Back in the good old days when BillG spoke, EVERYONE listened.
• Steve, you’ve lost the support of your employees – when will you realize that you’re holding this once great company back? Oh and BTW, you can take LB (HR chief Lisa Brummel) and KT (COO Kevin Turner) with you too. They like the taste of your Kool Aid…
• Now for the unpleasant weeks ahead. Wonder what flaming bag of you know what LB will lay on our doorsteps? She rolled out cuts to our bennies last year just after the company meeting, what’s next???
• Great demos and pretty good overall. Only thing is the last part, windows, cannot lose. Sounds a bit defensive from our CEO.
• Okay it’s been a couple years since I personally attended the company meeting but, wow, I have to say that was the worst one I’ve ever seen by far. I tried, I swear I tried to keep my admittedly sinking attitude in check and be objective. But it was just too much to endure such painfully flat demos and lifeless speakers in their sleepy attempts to show excitement about our products and our future. The train dance thing (the few times they did it) got old fast but it soon became a welcome reprieve from the on-stage monotony. It seemed like almost every demo was something about Win 8 tablet, with a few quick nods to products that are actually doing well in the marketplace, then back to praying to the Windows 8 gods for rain.
• Is Win 8 tablet all we have left to be excited about? Has the morale across the company slumped so much that 20,000 of us together can’t even generate a decent applause? Please someone tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’ve just got a bad attitude and I completely misread the meeting.
• Yep, pretty sad to see all the seats empty out while SteveB was talking…hopefully he gets the hint and bows out in the Win8 timeframe.

From the comments it would appear that Ballmer’s audience was not full of eager employees waiting to hear the next best thing, instead it was full of empty seats. The comments could be from non-Microsoft employees trying to stir up trouble but WinRumors spoke to two separate employees present at Ballmer’s speech and both confirmed that attendance was thin. Neither would say whether employees were walking out during Ballmer’s speech however. The Seattle PI asks is it time for Ballmer to leave Microsoft and has Steve Ballmer lost the support of Microsoft employees? Mini-Microsoft tipped Steven Sinofsky, chief of the Windows Division, as a potential CEO candidate. Microsoft lacks a visionary leader and Sinofsky appears to fill that role very well. Co-founder Bill Gates handed over the CEO position to Steve Ballmer in January 2000 and transitioned from full-time work at Microsoft to focus on his philanthropy in June, 2008. Gates’ departure came after his vision and belief that tablet computing would be mainstream by 2012 (see video). Gates was right but Ballmer has often misjudged competitor products, he laughed at the introduction of the iPhone and branded it “the most expensive phone in the world” (see video). The iPhone went on to redefine smartphones and triggered a battle for a space that Microsoft had invested heavily in with the now defunct Windows Mobile operating system.

Glassdoor.com, which allows employees to anonymously rates their employer, reports that 55 percent of employees disapprove of Ballmer and 45 percent approve, based on 1,691 ratings. An influential hedge fund manager called for Ballmer to quit in May. Microsoft’s board of directors supported Ballmer following the calls for him to quit. Microsoft’s nine-person board, including Chairman and co-founder Bill Gates, supported Ballmer at the end of May. Microsoft’s stock has suffered since Ballmer has been in charge but most analysts and investors feel it would be a hard task to find someone adequate to replace him.

BALLMER'S WINDOWS 8 RELEASE DATE INCORRECT SAYS MICROSOFT

During a press event in Japan recently, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Windows 8 would would launch sometime next year. His firm says otherwise. “It appears there was a misstatement,” a Microsoft spokesperson recently said in a statement. “We are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows.”

Despite Microsoft’s statement, we could still hear more about Windows 8 much sooner — even if it doesn’t actually launch in the coming fiscal year. “As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8,” Ballmer said in his speech. “Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.’ According to ZDNet, we could see an early build of the operating system as soon as the D9 conference, which begins on June 31st.

BALLMER OUTS WINDOWS 8, SAYS COMING NEXT YEAR

During remarks at a developers conference in Japan on May 23, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer referred to the next version of Windows as “Windows 8.” He also said the next generation of Windows systems will be out next year.

According to Microsoft's transcripts of the conference:

“We’re obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We’ve done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We’ve added touch, and ink, and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there’s a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.”

To those not following Microsoft’s Windows saga closely, this may seem like a “so what” moment. But Microsoft execs have been studiously avoiding any references to the timing or naming of the next version of Windows to try to keep the specifics of the product as quiet as possible. Microsoft’s top brass has been avoiding calling the next version of Windows “Windows 8″ publicly, preferring instead to call it “Windows Next.” (Internally, a number of Microsoft job postings and leaked slides have referenced “Windows 8,” however.”

BALLMER SAYS OVER 500 NEW FEATURES IN WP7 'MANGO' UPDATE

Steve Ballmer revealed the Windows Phone 7 'Mango' update will have "over 500 new features" in a speech over in Japan today, where he also said that additional information about "who's going to be building Windows Phones" will be forthcoming at tomorrow's preview event as well. Combine that with an otherwise unsubstantiated rumor about Microsoft showing nine new Windows Phone handsets tomorrow, and it does seem like there'll be fresh hardware to go with the ripening software.

Neither the Mango release nor any devices on show will be coming to market any time soon, mind you, but it's nice to think we'll get to see what the future of Windows Phone will look like in physical as well as digital form.

RUMOR: MICROSOFT TO SHOW OFF WINDOWS 8 TABLET AT CES

According to the New York Times, Microsoft intends to headline this year’s CES with yet another showcase of slate PCs… all of which will debut during Steve Ballmer’s CES keynote.

There will be at least two tablets. One is a Samsung tablet which is described as “similar in size and shape to the Apple iPad, although it is not as thin. It also includes a unique and slick keyboard that slides out from below for easy typing.” This sounds like the Gloria.

As for the Dell, nothing is known, short of Windows 7. My guess is it’s a variation of their Streak line of tablets.

Either way, yes, tablets can run Windows 7, but even that might be up in the air… according to the NYT, it’s possible Ballmer will debut these tablets running not Windows 7, but Windows 8. [Geek]

RUMOR: SECOND MAJOR WINDOWS PHONE 7 UDPATE PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY

Coming this February, from Microsoft, a second major update to Windows Phone 7. The first major update is rumored to be due next month. This is just a scant two months after launch. The rumor is coming out of WinRumors and is kind of hard to deny as Steve Ballmer will be headlining Mobile World Congress and will need some big announcement for his speech. Word is that users will be getting added customization options for their phones, while developers will gain an extra few API hooks and controls that will ideally lead to more sophisticated apps in WP7's future. [WinRumor]

BALLMER CASHES IN 49 MILLION MICROSOFT SHARES

Steve Ballmer has cashed in 49 million shares of Microsoft worth $1.3 billion. In addition he has informed the SEC he will be selling up to 75 million shares. Steve issued a statement to help clear the air around the huge sell off stating "Even though this is a personal financial matter, I want to be clear about this to avoid any confusion. I am excited about our new products and the potential for our technology to change people’s lives, and I remain fully committed to Microsoft and its success,”

This has more to do with taxes than anything else. With the capital gains tax set to increase from 15% to 20% in January, by selling now Ballmer reduces his tax liability significantly. [BGR]

BALLMER CALLS WINDOWS 8 "RISKIEST PRODUCT YET"

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, has called the upcoming Windows 8, the"riskiest product yet" by Microsoft.  We aren't sure why he stated that as leaked documents have highlighted some of what will be in the release.  Ballmer surely knows more than has been released though, so there may be some new outstanding features that he feels are a departure from the norm, hence the risk.

Windows 8, due in 2012, according to leaked documents will have facial recognition sign in abilities as well as being able to recognize when you get up and leave and puts itself into sleep mode.  It will also have support for USB 3 and Bluetooth 3.0 as well as being able to sense ambient light and adjust screen brightness.  The boot time has been shortened as well.  [Gizmodo]