Anybody struck by the number of times the word "bold" was used? What do you suppose is the hidden meaning behind that?
"Microsoft will need to be bold and make big bets to succeed in this new environment. Writing great software is a tremendous accomplishment and selling software has been a fabulous business. In the mobile-first, cloud-first world, software development is a key skill, but success requires moving to monetization through enterprise subscriptions, hardware gross margins, and advertising revenues. Making that change while also managing the existing software business well requires a boldness and fearlessness that I believe the management team has."
"Big bets" - we won't win everything we try or even come close. Some of the things we do will make us look foolish.
"software development is a key skill, but success" (it's not the olden days when we had a lock on things)
"moving to monetization through enterprise subscriptions, hardware gross margins, and advertising revenues" (I'm not sticking around for this one, best of luck!)
"well requires a boldness and fearlessness that I believe the management team has" (but I"m not certain after all I didn't say "I'm sure" I said "I believe".
Ballmer want's to leave the party before the end or at least when all the good food and booze is gone.