Microsoft's Steve Ballmer is not known for a lack of enthusiasm or hyperbole. It's surprising, then, to see him downplaying the expected effect of Windows 7's release on new system sales. Reuters quoted Ballmer on Wednesday at a news conference in Munich as saying "There will be a surge of PCs but it will probably not be huge." Certainly this is not a doom and gloom statement, but considering the source it's also not the inflated PR-speak that we've come to expect.

Does this mark a new approach for Ballmer? Are the days of the monkey-boy dance, or the developers, developers, developers chant gone? Or will Steve return to his shilling ways soon enough? Only time will tell.

A video of Ballmer selling Windows 1.0 like it's a used car is embedded after the break.

[via X-bit labs]

If it seems like every few days we're checking to see if Microsoft plans to buy Yahoo!, it's because we are. Earlier this year, Microsoft offered to buy the search company for $33 a share, but Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang said that bid undervalued the company. After a little back and forth, Microsoft walked away.

Flash forward half a year, and Yahoo! stock is trading at around the $10 mark, Yang has announced plans to step down as CEO, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the company still isn't interested in buying Yahoo!. Ballmer says Microsoft is still interested in pursuing a deal with Yahoo! to leverage the company's search technology. But that's not too surprising, since Ballmer's been saying that for months.

Does this mean that we won't see two of the largest companies in the software and internet space join forces? No, not really. Ballmer could just be negotiating or waiting for Yahoo! stock to drop low enough that he can pick up the company with nothing but spare change found in his couch cushions. But it is interesting to know that the departure of Yahoo!'s CEO seems to have no bearing on Ballmer's position.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has all but confirmed that Microsoft is working on an iPhone competitor with a Zune phone. That's not to say that Microsoft will build and sell the hardware. But in an interview with CIO Magazine, Ballmer stated that the Zune isn't just hardware, it's also software. And that the Zune software will be ported to run on other devices including PCs and Windows Mobile devices..

In other words, future cellphones running Windows Mobile could ship with Zune-style media player software instead of the mobile versio nof Windows Media Player. It's also possible we could see devices where the default look and feel of the devices is built to suit the Zune UI rather than the typical Windows Mobile interface with its old fashioned start menu paradigm.

And before you ask, the image is from wmpoweruser, and I'm pretty sure it's a mockup created by combining the Zune and Windows Mobile user interfaces. Ballmer may be willing to talk about the future of the Zune software, but to the best of my knowledge Microsoft has yet to release a screenshot.

[via Engadget]

Yahoo! has rejected the 10,247th buyout proposal to date from Microsoft. The New York Times reports that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and investor Carl Icahn made another offer to purchase Yahoo!'s search business on Friday night -- and gave the company 24 hours to respond. Because we've seen how well ultimatums work in the past. Unsurprisingly, The Yahoo! board rejected the offer.

Now are you ready for the funny part? In a detailed press release, Yahoo! explains that the board would prefer an outright sale of the company. The asking price? $33 per share -- or exactly what Microsoft offered several months ago. Yahoo! has seen its stock price fall significantly since that offer, and probably one of the only surefire ways to boost the stock price is to sign a deal with Microsoft or another company. But there's really no reason for Microsoft to pay $33 per share for a company that's stock price would only actually be worth that much money if and when Microsoft ponies up the cash.

OK let's be honest. Who hasn't wanted to throw eggs at Steve Ballmer at some point. You know, you're up late at night trying to finish some report, and suddenly your computer crashes and you lose three hours worth of work (never mind the fact that this could have all been avoided if you hit the save button every now and again), and you turn to the sky and scream BALLMER!!!!

Well, maybe it's not as bad as all that. But when Ballmer spoke at the Hungarian University of Economy today, one student started throwing eggs at the Microsoft CEO. According to Valleywag, the act was meant to protest the millions of dollars Hungary's government spends to license Microsoft software at universities. While he's mostly yelling in Hungarian, you can make out a bit of English when he not-so-politely asks Ballmer to give the money back to the taxpayers.

The whole thing was caught on video. Note that Steve Ballmer was not harmed in the making of this video, but several eggs lost their shells.

OK, this is just getting silly. At this point, Microsoft has made its offer to purchase Yahoo!, been rejected, set a date in the sand, after which Microsoft would try to oust Yahoo!'s board of directors, and then let that date come and go without taking any action. And after all the tough talk, now it looks like Microsoft is finally starting to consider raising its asking price.

The problem is that Microsoft is thinking $32 or $33, which would be a nice boost from its current bid valued at $29.06 a share, while some Yahoo! shareholders are apparently holding out for $35 or more a share.

If this keeps up, we kind of expect Steve Ballmer to start shooting sptiballs at Yahoo! board members and shareholders, pulling their hair, and then threatening to take the kickball home with him so they can't play the game anymore. And then Microsoft will wind up paying $45 a share.

Oh, Microsoft, Yahoo!, when are you going to stop fighting and realize that you're in love with each other? Yahoo!'s board of directors has responded to a letter from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer demanding action within 3 weeks. In a nutshell, Ballmer told Yahoo! that if the company didn't accept Microsoft's buyout offer, Microsoft would lower its bid and try to replace the Yahoo! Board. So what does Yahoo!'s current board have to say?

In a pistachio shell:

• We already told you no.
• Well, we might say yes, but we'd need more money
• I mean seriously, $31 per share? What's up with that. And have we mentioned that your stock is dropping, so your offer is worth less today then when you made the offer?
• We keep launching new products like a new advertising platform that add value to our brand. And you're trying to buy us for $31 per share? Hmph.
• You think you're the only one interested in taking us to the prom? We've got lots of suitors. Really.
• Don't bully us.
  

All of which is to say that Yahoo! has not closed the door on a possible merger with Microsoft. But Microsoft's either going to have to follow through on Ballmer's threat to wage a proxy battle or raise its asking price.