• silicon.com
• Technology
• Hardware

By Joe Wilcox, 13 November 2002 12:45

NEWS Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has claimed that the software giant was "dedicated from the top down" to meeting the settlement guidelines imposed upon it last week. Ballmer's speech at the Brookings Institute in the US yesterday marked the first public remarks from a company executive about the antitrust case and its impact on the software giant. Ballmer described the settlement as "a fundamental part of what's different" at Microsoft. The antitrust rulings put "new obligations, responsibilities" on the company, he said. The "settlement was the fairest and best way to resolve the case... We are committed to full compliance," Ballmer said. Ballmer repeatedly emphasised the importance of cooperation. He spoke about "a new management approach" that focuses more on customer and partner relationships. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates "and I run a very different organisation than we did five years ago," he said. Microsoft apparently learned much from its four-and-a-half year antitrust battle with the government. Ballmer noted that Microsoft found few supporters at the beginning of the case, which surprised company executives. "We've learned a great deal over the last few years about our own responsibility," he said. "We learned we needed to take a different perspective on being an industry leader." Ballmer made clear that the company would now work to "foster industry cooperation in new and different ways." In a retreat from the aggressive tactics that led the government to bring the antitrust case in the first place, Ballmer said that Microsoft has focused on building technology upon which other companies can build products. "We are working to be a more responsible leader for our industry," Ballmer said. "Last week's Tablet PC launch was about years of partnership." Microsoft will increase research and development spending by 15 per cent to $5bn this year, Ballmer said. "As a company looking forward, we see enormous potential." He predicted that through technology innovation, we will "achieve this promise of truly personal computing." Joe Wilcox writes for News.com