1) Mr. Ballmer, with longhorn looking ever farther off into the horizon, how do you personally view future advances being made at Microsoft for the consumer market?
2) Given that we've moved away from the CLI interface and into the GUI era, do you foresee the GUI interface drastically changing?
3) Do you believe that Longhorn will be on par with the difference between say the Dos platform and the Windows XP platform? [A drastic change rather than a gradual technological evolution]
4) AT PDC Jim Allchin said that he was on a personal crusade for zero reboots in Longhorn, do you have a similar crusade against reboots?
5) In future technologies facial pattern recognition is being strongly researched, how do you feel about facial patterns being publicly searchable on the internet, such that by searching for a name on the internet I can find pictures of that individual, or by searching with a picture I can locate information on someone? [What privacy issues do you believe are relevant?]
6) Given the different IM applications [AIM, ICQ,MSN] do you think Longhorn will usher in a unified open standards based IM protocol? More broadly, is having a unified open standards based IM protocol of interest to you?
7) With Microsoft making inroads into the automobile-computing arena, do you foresee the X-box 2 as an in-vehicle gaming/entertainment system for children in the backseat?
8) What are the current specs for the computer you have in your office in seattle?[In a 2000 Business 2.0 picture it looked like you had a 21 inch CRT and a Dell Dimension system, have you been upgraded since?]
9) What are the main distinctions and advantages you believe exist between the Pocket PC platform and the Smart Phone platform? [at PDC I was surprised to hear grumblings that Microsoft will no longer be putting resources into the Pocket PC platform and instead focusing on Smart Phones, what are your thoughts?]
10) Given the broad scope of many CS/CIS programs at leading universities around the United States, what do you believe are the essential disciplines students should learn?
11) In a cover story, called "Broadband left me at the alter" you reflected that broadband adoption wasn't meeting expectations, so what do you believe Microsoft's role is in driving broadband adoption? [There’s been lots of talk about killer apps and withstanding online gaming and adult entertainment, I’ve yet to have Microsoft Products convince my friends that they should get broadband]
12) Given the tight security around the aero interface, it’s believed only 30-40 people have access to it, do you get to be a frontline tester for the interface on a daily basis?
13) Have you ever been bored while listening to Bill Gates’s speeches, or do you have super-human abilities and can’t be bored?
14) It's believed that you and many high level managers answered support calls when the blaster virus hit in August, is that true?
This post was edited by Zeo01 on Monday, March 01, 2004 at 13:50.
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