Windows 8 and beyond: Microsoft's next decade

Radio Reg January marks not just a new decade but also the 10-year anniversary of Steve Ballmer's appointment as Microsoft's chief executive officer.

The last 10 years offered a mixed report card for Ballmer and Microsoft: Windows XP versus Vista, success of the Xbox but treading water on mobile, corporate revenue grew 163 per cent while the stock price fell 39 per cent. And let's not mention the squandered internet years and the ongoing race to catch Google.

Already, some are calling time on Ballmer, and one way or another, he'll be gone by 2020 as he's said he'd do the job for only 20 years. Only the manner of his exit is in question.

As the decade turns, MicroBite looks ahead to the next 12 months and place three big bets on where Microsoft will be by the end of the current decade.

Reg software editor Gavin Clarke and All-About-Microsoft blogger Mary-Jo Foley bet on two areas where Microsoft has struggled: consumer mobile, and internet search. Then there's a third bet where Microsoft can, and must, break new ground: Windows in the cloud.

We talk corporate politics, Windows Mobile, Windows 8, and Internet Explorer 9, Midori, Gazelle, Silverlight, and a brand new operating system that dare not speak its name.

You can listen using The Reg player below, or grab the MP3 here, or the Ogg Vorbis here. ®

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