Bill Gates has come out saying he urged the Skype deal to be done, which is executive speak for saying that Ballmer is still his man.
Gates:
>It’ll be fascinating to see how the brilliant ideas out of Microsoft research, coming together with Skype, what they can make of that.
I too look forward to all the prototypes that Microsoft comes up with, only to kill the minute people applaud them. ((I’m looking at you [Courier](http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/microsofts-courier-digital-journal-exclusive-pictures-and-de/), oh what could have been.))