Thus reports J. Nicholas Hoover of Information Week.
One interesting point:
"Ballmer said Microsoft realizes computing is in the midst of a shift from desktop-centric to a more balanced world that interweaves the best of the Web, the PC, enterprise functionality like manageability, and the explosion of different devices, but that companies looking to develop platforms on a larger scale have far to go."
More here.
One intriguing question: What if the 'pretenders' team up with worldwide users in real time ?
