Ballmer hints at pending acquisition by Microsoft
SeattlePI | at | by Mike
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer hinted yesterday at the possibility of an impending acquisition by the company. During an onstage interview at the Gartner Symposium for information-technology professionals in Orlando, Fla., Ballmer said to "stand by for news" about an acquisition. His comment came during a portion of the interview dealing with software development tools and XML Web services, small pieces of software that let programs on disparate systems interact.
Ballmer made the statement in the course of underscoring the importance of letting software developers determine, at the time a program is created, how it will be "managed," or centrally controlled and monitored over a network.