And if I may reply to myself :-) This ties into my latest theory as to why Ballmer is in good standing with the board for now: Nokia. My theory is that Ballm

And if I may reply to myself :-) This ties into my latest theory as to why Ballmer is in good standing with the board for now: Nokia. My theory is that Ballmer has a very solid relationship with Elop. Recall that Elop did the odd thing of announcing he was going to Nokia, while still President at MS. I can't recall many examples of that happening. Ballmer must've been fine with it. I suspect the Nokia partnership/acquisition is Ballmer's big play and the board knows it. Viewed in that light the Skype acquisition and Nokia play are the same deal (you don't do an $8.5B acquisition, while you're in the midst of a huge Nokia play, unless you've tied them together). The board likes the Nokia play and is seeing it through. If it works out, Ballmer is there for a while. If it doesn't work out then Ballmer is gone.