In an interview, the Microsoft CEO pointed to tough competitors in every part of the business. Longtime foes like Oracle and IBM remain, but Google, Apple, and Linux all loom large.
Against that backdrop, Microsoft is locked in a protracted battle to acquire Yahoo. Ballmer spoke to CNET News.com shortly after the launch of new server software in Los Angeles.
Microsoft announced a broad set of interoperability moves last week. When you guys made the announcement, did you know that the EU was planning to levy further fines against Microsoft?
Ballmer: We knew it was pending, we didn't know it was this week, but we knew it was coming at some point. This is not news today. We are in compliance, they agreed we are in compliance. This is a fine for activities that predate the compliance activities that Ms. Kroes talked about last fall. So this is not new news in terms of compliance. It says there was a past transgression and they assessed a fine for that past transgression.
