Ballmer: IBM's Bet On Linux Won't Carry The Day

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March 20, 2001 (12:00 AM EST)

Ballmer: IBM's Bet On Linux Won't Carry The Day

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer says IBM Corp.'s $1 billion investment in Linux would not allow the rival operating system to win the day.

When asked what he thought of IBM's huge investment in Linux, Ballmer said, "It will have an impact, but Linux is a toy. By IBM (stock: IBM) supporting Linux well then it is not a toy. But does that mean IBM and Linux will carry the day? No way.

"IBM has not participated in the modern software revolution," added Ballmer, noting that software innovation is not going to be driven by IBM's investment in Linux. "Who are you going to bet on—Microsoft (stock: MSFT) or IBM? I'll take that bet any day."

As for Microsoft's announcement of Hailstorm, a set of software as services delivered via the Internet, Ballmer said Hailstorm is a "big deal. It puts meat on the .Net bone."

The .Net set of software services will be driven by "integration" of those services into businesses of all sizes.

"This year in the business space we will make .Net real," he said.

Ballmer conceded that the .Net road map is "going to take a few years to achieve." He compared the evolution of .Net to the evolution of the GUI on the PC.

"The PC happened fast," he said. "The GUI happened slowly."

Ballmer also admitted that VisualStudio.Net has been slower to come to market than he would have liked.