Comments on: Ballmer: Microsoft needs better sales pitch

But wait--is a new version of Office coming out before Longhorn? Hint found among calls for harder work, $1 billion in cost cuts.

[Jonathan]

Clue to Steve: No one gives a crap

2000, XP, 2003 are all perfectly fine office suites. The only reason people upgraded in the past is because Office sucked [BEEP].

[Richie7]

[e-mail] says:

Steve does not live in the real world Like politicans don't either they have too much money to think like real people. I write a lot of letters and many books with office 97, why do I need anything else. Come on tell me why I need another $300 program that does what I am already doing. You can't without sounding like a politician, answer a question without giving an answer but it sounds like you have answered it. So although I can get Office 2000 at a reduced price now, I am not going to go there.As with any software, it has to be much better then its predocessor to be any good but to sell it has to be reasonable priced. Look how great an Apple computer is, but it is price twice or three times the price of a PC. Who is going to spend $1500 for a desktop computer and $2500 for a laptop an Apple nut not me. So Mr. Balmer come down to the real world to solve the problems the problems of the "People".You have to remember when you didn't have it. Thank You

It occurs to me

Mr. Ballmers memo seems to underline the very thing that slows MS progress. They have become a large machine that is having a hard time controlling what it wants to do. I am not a linux zealot and I think MS has done a good job in the past to standardize and make a PC productive to the general public. However, windows (all flavors) is getting harder to use because of all the security holes. IE is impossible to use at this point because it is susceptable to being hijacked in various ways. If I were Mr. Ballmer I would focus everything that MS has to getting a new operating system out the door that addresses the numerous security issues. I run an ISP and had to finally use a Linux based server solution because of the security issues inherent in windows IIS. I think windows is a much more user freindly and productive platform for most people but security problems will kill this advantage eventually.
In regard to office: I like office and use office but it has so much stuff in it that I will never use. whats wrong with offering a good low cost version of office?

[stang01]

MS new products

I'm very happy with win 95 at home and as far as I'm concerned, Microsoft can go jump in a deep lake!