Ballmer Questions Google Chrome OS Comments

I don't think he cares. He might be a little interested but the billionaire CEO of Microsoft isn't going to worry about yet another Linux distro. Engadget has Bill Gates quotes on the matter and he seems fairly uncaring about it.
Who actually thinks it'll make any sort of difference? If netbooks taught us anything it's that people don't want things to be really stripped down. They want them powerful - which is why they've got bigger screens, HDDs, faster hardware, etc over time.
Also, it should be "piqued".

only google knows where its going with the chrome OS... from an optimistic point of view, there isnt anything wrong with android in fact, the OS is evolving fast and has demonstrated its power...just see what htc has done with hero, the os does seem to be more "open" therefore easily tweaked, and new great apps (not those many but useless apps) are coming thick and fast....its just that perhaps, out of the blue google is seeing something we can't see yet, and quickly jump on it to revolutionize the tech world, not only the pc world, mobile devices world, but perhaps tech world in general.... thats my take...

@Will

"Also, it should be "piqued"."

Damn, beat me to it!

Also, I'm pretty sure there was never a "Windows 97".

Listening to Stever Ballmer reminds me of listening to Robert Mugabe. Lots of bluster and hubris that comes from sitting in the untouchable hotseat - but the stuff he says never makes the slightest bit of sense.

I thought this was a family website!

No more images like that on the front page please, I nearly choked on my cornflakes :(

Ballmer embodies everything that's wrong with Microsoft :( When he comes out all hot under the collar like this, throwing stupid and ill-conceived statements around, it feels like watching that David Brent dance on The Office all over again :D

I think Microsoft are well aware that this is a battle over developer mindshare for rich internet applications: Microsoft Silverlight versus Google Native Client versus Adobe Flex. RIAs make the operating system irrelevant and back when Java tried this, Microsoft moved swiftly and adeptly to defend Windows. The internet has grown a lot since then and I think it is inevitable that a lot of what people use their computers for will be achievable with RIAs.

With Silverlight, Azure and Web Office Microsoft are making sure they'll be ready for this whilst still retaining full integration with the Windows desktop offerings. Undoubtedly this puts Microsoft in a stronger position than anyone else. If you have Windows on your desktop but Google Chrome OS on your netbook because it's free, you could still use the Microsoft RIA offerings there to partner with the desktop applications. Microsoft may well lose revenues on Windows but so long as they keep Office revenues propped up, it won't be anywhere near as bad as people adopting an alternative rich application environment like Native Client for all their needs.

Like Silverlight, Native Client will deliver cross platform RIAs but also to Linux and ARM CPUs (will there be something like Mac's Universal Binaries perhaps?). It will also ship with Google Chrome browser and thus Chrome OS. Within Chrome OS, I can't see why a Native Client app wouldn't be displayed like any other desktop app. I imagine the Native Client versions of Picasa, Google Earth, Open Office will look and behave just like the Windows versions. And in that respect, I imagine Chrome OS will look pretty much like any normal desktop operating system. An operating system with its own application environment that also works on every other operating system should be a concern for Mr. Ballmer, especially if that application environment becomes popular. And as a free operating system conservatively aimed at netbooks, Chrome OS could be the impetus for that to happen.