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I chuckled at the Inquirer posting last month Dealing with Ballmer is like dealing with an estate agent, over the remarks of an EC regulator dealing with the recent judgment against Microsoft.

Neelie Kroes revealed how in meetings she found him more slippery than a well-greased eel.

She said that she could remember at least four times when, if you were naïve, you could have thought everything was fixed.

However, it turned out that nothing was ever fixed and Microsoft was not even trying to “deliver and implement.”

In short, negotiating with Steve ’sounds of silence’ Ballmer was like dealing with an estate agent who is trying to convince you that the kitchen really is not falling into a Victorian cesspit and will be cheap to repair.

Unfortunately for the Vole, Kroes really thinks that Steve is the sort of person where you have to count your fingers after shaking hands. This might cause a few problems for Microsoft when it comes to the EU deciding about any take overs of Yahoo.

Today over breakfast I read the eWeek story “Steve Ballmer On Vista, virtualization and open vows”. Baller was interview by Senior Editor Peter Galli. (sorry, there doesn’t seem to be a link to the article on eWeek.com).

I was struck by the responses beginning with “Well,…” An insurance adjuster advised me some time ago to not believe anything after the “Well,…” I don’t. This sage advice has proven itself again and again.

Steve Ballmer has proven his marketing genius over the years. I think Microsoft would be just a shadow of itself if it weren’t for Ballmer’s marketing talents.

In the end, I think Ballmer always gets his pound of flesh. Late last month during a conference call billed as “significant, ” Steve Ballmer and others divulged some details of opening some API’s and protocols. See Microsoft Opens Kimono - Somewhat.

Oh, about that pound of flesh. In the interview Steve says

Open-source developers can write software that uses those patents. Their customers, the users of the products, must get a license. The developers themselves don’t need to get a patent license.

Slick, Steve. Slick.

…John

Today during a Microsoft conference call billed as “significant, ” Steve Ballmer and others divulged some details of opening some API’s and protocols.

The Register posting Microsoft bares all - play by play gives the minute by minute details.

8:32 - So, here we are early in the morning in California, waiting for Microsoft’s top brass to divulge all the meat on their Openness Festival. The Great Beast of the Pacific Northwest has finally capitulated and agreed to free its APIs for developers. In addition, Microsoft will publish most of its major protocol data and license the protocols at a reasonable fee.

It’s also going to support rival document formats in Office and even set up an organization dedicated to working with open source software developers. Oh yeah, Microsoft won’t sue people crafting non-commercial, open source versions of its protocols either.
Pigs flying? Hell freezing? Yessir. But that’s what happens when US and especially European bureaucrats keep breathing down you neck for years.

Anyway, we’ll have live bloggy style coverage of an upcoming conference call with Chief Ballmer, top lawyer Brad Smith, Server chief Craig Mundie and memo man Ray Ozzie right here.

Some interesting tidbits are

8:50 - Biggy Ballmer has been droning on for a bit. Microsoft has been pretty open for years, but now it’s super, super open, he tells us.

“We are committed to living up to our legal responsibilities around the world,” he adds.

That’s nice, Steve.

Overall, Ballmer sounds pretty sedated. We doubt he’s frothing at the mouth or even sweating. He reads a mean PowerPoint though.

9:06 - Top lawyer Brad Smith charged after the obvious. Microsoft thinks that today’s actions should keep the European Commission happy.

“Microsoft is committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure we are in compliance with European Law,” he said.

Microsoft will make sure that Europe hears about today’s moves and will “take additional steps in the coming weeks” to keep the socialists happy.

9:20 - Some chowder head reporter has the audacity to tell Ballmer that Microsoft is only doing this to keep European socialists happy.

“These steps are being taken on our own,” Ballmer said.

“These principles are being taken on our actions and do reflect the reality of our unique legal situation and our view of what will be required but also what we see as new opportunities and risks in a more connected world.”

“The world we grew up in was a world of individual machines.”

But now we’re in a service oriented architecture paradise, and Ozzie tells Ballmer about it everyday. So, Microsoft needs to be a bit looser with its morals and code.

“We open up new opportunities for partners to take share from us,” Ballmer said. “I guess that’s right, but at the same time we open up opportunities for partners to add value.

“We think on balance it is consistent with what we will be doing anyway from a legal perspective, and it’s pro-customers. . . In the long run, it should be a good thing for our shareholders.”

But what about mankind?

Ballmer should have stopped there but went on to say something about Microsoft being “on the receiving end” of some standards work instead of leading it. We just can’t quite take the image of Ballmer being on the receiving end of anything.

Interesting stuff. I’ll give Microsoft a benefit of a doubt. We’ll see just how real the Openness Festival is when the Open Source community starts examining the goods and possible using some of it.

…John