Microsoft licensing not expected to get simpler anytime soon

While he acknowledged the problem, Ballmer said it wasn’t likely to be solved anytime soon. “I don’t anticipate a big round of simplifying our licensing,” he said.

Ballmer admitted that Microsoft's licences had some “gotchas” in the fine print, and said that “our people” shouldn’t necessarily be hassling companies over issues in that fine print. “I’m sure we have fine print we don’t need. We’re not saints,” he said.

But he claimed that the finer details of the licensing system give some companies the opportunity to save money. “Customers always find an approach which pays us less money,” he claimed.