It's a good thing Ballmer isn't judged solely on how Microsoft does compared to Apple. The media likes to play up Microsoft's recent "string of failures" but it's overhyped. Microsoft is like a championship team that has had a few bad seasons. They had a few duds like Vista, Windows Mobile, and Kin, but people forget how much cash Windows and Office rake in. These more than pay for the few missteps. Microsoft has a winner with Windows 7, XBox and the Marketplace are doing well, and even if Windows Phone 7 is just so-so, they'll still have cash to keep experimenting.

With something as established as Windows and Office, you could continue to see decent revenues almost with your eyes closed, so let's not commend Microsoft too much for merely maintaining what is practically handed to them. The only credit they deserve is for establishing those wins in the first place, but these are now 20-year-old victories; very little that's new has arrived. What is new, has also cost them dearly (e.g. how much money does X-box make...or, does it make money?).

I am quite sure that the only thing keeping them in business is their money. They have made enough bad decisions to kill any smaller company.

I'm not commending Ballmer or Microsoft for anything. I'm just saying that there are a lot of people calling Ballmer a failure for maintaining an even keel. The company is not losing money, they are profitable, and they are far from going out of business. They aren't growing at a breakneck pace either, but that is not failure. They have plenty of cash on hand to continue experimenting.