????現在，鮑爾默準備退休了，不過他留下了許多尚未解決的問題。他對微軟拳頭產品Windows和Office的保護時間是不是太長了，結果付出的代價錯過了追求云計算和移動設備等技術帶來的新商機？盡管他表示希望微軟從軟件巨頭轉變為設備和服務公司，但是他帶領公司轉型的速度是不是太緩慢了？

????菲茨杰拉德說：“我認為我們將來回顧的時候會得出結論，微軟最大的挑戰在于公司的規模。”他曾公開表示他認為微軟應該分為三個更加“苗條”的公司，而不是一個單獨的巨型公司。

????鮑爾默坐在辦公室的椅子上，翹著腿，他拒絕承認微軟規模太大，也不承認微軟需要進行任何形式的分割換取成功。

????鮑爾默說：“我確實認為比我接手時，公司變得更加專注了。其中部分原因是時代變了。我們已經從絕對領袖變為了相對的領先者，同時我們還是挑戰者。身為挑戰者時，你就需要有所選擇，變得比之前更為專注。”

????鮑爾默說，微軟的員工曾經認為：“我們只要做出東西，研發出一些部件，然后就能賺錢。”他說，現在，“我已經不這么認為了。”很快，我們就能知道他的繼任者是否同樣抱有這樣的觀點。（財富中文網）

????譯者：嚴匡正??

????As Ballmer prepares for his exit, he leaves many questions unanswered. Did he protect Microsoft's crown jewels, Windows and Office, for too long at the expense of pursuing new businesses enabled by technologies such as cloud computing and mobile devices? Has he been too slow in overseeing Microsoft's transition from being the Samson of software to the devices and services company he claims he wants it to be?

????"I think we will look back and conclude that for Microsoft, the biggest challenge was the sheer scope of the company," says Fitzgerald, who has publicly opined that he thinks Microsoft ought to be three "svelte" companies rather than one single mega-corporation.

????Sitting cross-legged in his office chair, Ballmer refuses to concede that Microsoft is too big or in need of any kind of divestiture to succeed.

????"I do think we're far more focused than we were when I took over," Ballmer says. "And that's partly a function of the time. We've gone from being a complete leader to a leader and a challenger, both in the same body. And when you're a challenger, you do have to pick and choose and be more focused."

????Microsoft employees used to believe "that we could just make things, just develop part of something and it would take off," Ballmer says. These days, "I don't believe that," he says. We'll soon see if that view is one that his successor holds, too.