What we couldn't interview Microsoft about

When I caught up with Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer last week for an exclusive Computing interview, it was more a case of what was off the agenda as opposed to on it.

The great man spared me 10 minutes of his time, five minutes down on 15 originally agreed, and 45 minutes later than scheduled.

The proposed Yahoo buyout was definitely a no-go area for questions, as was the subject of the €899m EU fine, inconveniently (but perhaps deliberately) dropped into Microsoft's lap on the same day as an enterprise software launch which the software giant proclaimed as the 'biggest in its history'.

Not strictly true, though, when you consider that, of the three products being 'launched' on the day, Windows Server 2008 will not actually ship to UK customers until 19 March or maybe even later, while Visual Studio 2008 has been widely available for purchase for at least a couple of months.

A minor distortion of the exact dates involved, argues Microsoft. But if Redmond's finest is willing to mess about with the Gregorian calendar for its own marketing purposes, which other figures is it likely to have massaged?

The date of the final appearance of HyperV server virtualisation technology, set for August? Current Vista adoption rates and security vulnerability volumes? Clearly, Microsoft sets its own agenda in more ways than one.

By Martin Courtney