Enterprise Applications: Steve Ballmer's CES Performance Proves He Needs to Go: 10 Reasons Why

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show last week amid anticipation from both critics and supporters. The critics were hoping he would go on-stage and deliver the same old, boring discourse on why Microsoft is tops in software. The supporters were hoping that Ballmer would talk about the impact Windows 8 will have, why Windows-based tablets are the future, and how Microsoft will spend the next year overcoming pressures from Google and Apple. Unfortunately for those supporters, Ballmer did little of the sort. Instead, he and his colleagues spent time talking about Xbox, one of Microsoft's strongest achievers in the past year; Windows Phone 7 and how the company will improve the OS in the coming year; and Windows 7. He also mentioned that the next version of Windows will support ARM Holdings architecture. But that was about it. In the process, Ballmer showed that Microsoft in 2011 will be the same company it was in 2010: unsure of what the future really holds. He also effectively showed that he doesn't have what it takes to run Microsoft any longer. Ballmer seems to be living in the past, and it's hurting Microsoft and its investors. Read on to find out why 2011 should be Steve Ballmer's last year at Microsoft.