Steve Ballmer

Well, he didn't know how to show me a different kind of respect. I didn't know how to show him a different kind of respect. There were things that I thought, you know, where I just disagreed with him and now I expected it to go the other way. I was always happy. I was happy being a number two guy. I was fine. Salute. I don't like the decision.

I either salute or I'd body punch and then salute or body punch and he'd agree with me. Body punch means it's a slower process. And then, you know, we didn't know how to do that. We just didn't know how to do that. And after a year, we started talking again. Basically, our wives were the ones who pushed us back together. We had a very awkward dinner at a health club down the street here.

I either salute or I'd body punch and then salute or body punch and he'd agree with me. Body punch means it's a slower process. And then, you know, we didn't know how to do that. We just didn't know how to do that. And after a year, we started talking again. Basically, our wives were the ones who pushed us back together. We had a very awkward dinner at a health club down the street here.

But we get back together. But we never really got the right mojo together. I mean, Bill was chief software architect and I was very deferential then to sort of product direction from Bill. And he's working on Longhorn at this point because it's post XP. Which was a mistake. Longhorn was a big mistake. I have to take accountability. I was the CEO. Bill's got to take a lot of accountability.

But we get back together. But we never really got the right mojo together. I mean, Bill was chief software architect and I was very deferential then to sort of product direction from Bill. And he's working on Longhorn at this point because it's post XP. Which was a mistake. Longhorn was a big mistake. I have to take accountability. I was the CEO. Bill's got to take a lot of accountability.

And it was the mistake of mistakes. And between the company, you know, Bill and I to the disagreed about whether we should do hardware. That was a big one. Surface was a big disagreement. Phone, big disagreement. HoloLens, big disagreement.

And it was the mistake of mistakes. And between the company, you know, Bill and I to the disagreed about whether we should do hardware. That was a big one. Surface was a big disagreement. Phone, big disagreement. HoloLens, big disagreement.

Were you aligned?

Were you aligned?

bill was fine with azure the cloud bill and i had agreed on in the 90s right i mean energizer energizer i think energizer could have been bill's idea not mine yeah pretty sure it was bill's idea not mine i executed but bill's idea not mine but you know we never hit it there were places there should have been more contention maybe even during the late 90s i don't know but there were certainly places where there should have been more contention and i i you know

bill was fine with azure the cloud bill and i had agreed on in the 90s right i mean energizer energizer i think energizer could have been bill's idea not mine yeah pretty sure it was bill's idea not mine i executed but bill's idea not mine but you know we never hit it there were places there should have been more contention maybe even during the late 90s i don't know but there were certainly places where there should have been more contention and i i you know

My gut, I was, you know, these are the smart technical guys, Bill, and I'm trusting.

My gut, I was, you know, these are the smart technical guys, Bill, and I'm trusting.

I'm beginning to have a pit in my stomach. But we didn't have the right contention. I mean, was it the, and this is not directed at Bill personally, it's directed at all of us. We kind of had an emperor that had no clothes. Yeah, in the long run. It was the emperor that had no clothes.

I'm beginning to have a pit in my stomach. But we didn't have the right contention. I mean, was it the, and this is not directed at Bill personally, it's directed at all of us. We kind of had an emperor that had no clothes. Yeah, in the long run. It was the emperor that had no clothes.

And partly it was the centrality of windows and the notion that windows would stay central, therefore people would all want this new stuff. Partly there was sort of a, there's too much change all at one time. We didn't do a new operating system, but we were kind of doing a new operating system. We would probably have been better.

And partly it was the centrality of windows and the notion that windows would stay central, therefore people would all want this new stuff. Partly there was sort of a, there's too much change all at one time. We didn't do a new operating system, but we were kind of doing a new operating system. We would probably have been better.

It may not have sold at all, but we probably would have done better just to do it.

It may not have sold at all, but we probably would have done better just to do it.

Well, no, forget what we called it. Just starting from scratch. Maybe keeping parts of the kernel, but otherwise starting from scratch and throw out all the scruff. Now, I don't think we would have popularized it. And if we'd looked at it that way, we probably wouldn't have built it. But by then, we were a little cocky about Windows, and it was our thing.