It is. Ballmer uses a Dell in his presentations.

who knew what the big microsoft logo was hiding... treason

I don't think the man would be dumb enough to chance getting caught like that.

Fake I say.

Not only is the chop job on the alleged lappy incomplete, but the added "grain" all over the picture is a dead giveaway of somebody trying to cover their P-Chopping tracks (I do it all the time).

Maybe it's a Mac -- running Windows.

Hi I'm a Mac... and I'm a PC who is secretly using a Mac!

I know four people with mac laptops and they all run XP or Vista on them.

I LOL at them for paying a premium for white Asus laptops.

ROFL!

After having had a look at the high resolution image on Flickr and you will see the Apple VGA cable that is connecting it to the projector as well as the USB key...

This is either legit, or someone when through a hell of a lot of trouble making the image look real!

Tellingly, no one questions the validity of the convoluted title:

"Business Leadership and Digital Innovation for Future Graduated"

"BAWHHAHAHAH! THINK DIFFERENT!!!!!1111 HAHAHAHAH!!"
-2008, steve ballmer

Yah, that VGA adapter and where the USB key are look like it's really a Mac. But he may not have picked the machine, it may have been provided by the venue he was speaking at.

LMAO! I got to admit, if this is real, its pretty funny...

So Steve and Steve have more in common than just a name.

I laughed until I shat myself...

the pic IS real... Aheem*

Well Microsoft did bail Apple out way back when...

@gavers: yeah...the head of the largest software company IN THE WORLD would just use whatever laptop someone at a speaking engagement would have for him...riiiiight...

I don't care if it's fake or not, I LOLed. And I do not say that I LOLed unless I actually vocalized. Great stuff.

I don't think the pic is shopped, but who's to say that it was actually Balmer giving a speech that day? Anyone could just pull up a keynote presentation and print out a Microsoft sign... I won't believe it till I see the big man himself. Just my .02

If I were feeling clever (or stupid), I'd just find a pic that has a mac in it and shop some presentation and a Microsoft logo in. They wouldn't look at that as much as they would the computer, right?

@PsychoCemia:
Hmmm...never mind. Looking at the next pics in the photostream, I guess it could be credible. My mistake. :)

Fake, fake, fake.

No way Steve Ballmer has enough taste to use a MacBook Pro.

P.S. crappy PowerPoint slide design too.

Holy shit!

@Saeid:

I see it too. It looks real to me.

I wouldn't use windows if microsoft paid me... but I've heard from several windows users that have switched to macs that their macs are the best machines they have ever run windows on.

What is the big deal about a Microsoft guy using an Apple product? Microsoft deals in software and hardware that works on multiple platforms...for instance, you can run Windows on a Mac with virtualization rather easily, and there are versions of MS Office created specifically for Macs. Apple chooses not to let a majority of its software run on other platforms, which is cool because I think it leads to greater stability, but that stability is paid for with the higher prices. Microsoft does not make laptops, so what is the big deal in Ballmer using an Apple laptop versus any other brand. No matter the brand, it is more than likely still running Microsoft products.

This pic would be a shocker if it showed Ballmer using all Apple software products. Of course, I think the best thing would be if the Mac locked up and showed an Apple error screen. Heh...maybe Microsoft is smart, if the laptop locks up, at least it wouldn't be a Windows BSOD :p

Microsoft makes versions of MS Office for the Apple platform. The presentation is probably MS PowerPoint. What's the big deal? MS doesn't make laptops. As for the OS, I think it is smart for Ballmer to use another OS...avoid anymore BSOD incidents =D

Wait, what's everyone's problem with this? I thought Microsoft was a software company, not a hardware company.

GAH...ps sorry for the double...now triple post...I thought the first one didn't go through. I just now realized/read the message that my posts won't display until my account has been approved. BOO to spambots :( If it wasn't for those dirty little wretches, I would be able to post without even having an account...that is so long as the owners of whatever site I'm posting at aren't fascist bastards. I understand it just has to be this way gizmodo... That damn HP add throwing its dirty finger all around your page gives me all the reason I need to use ABP, though. You all fast forward and/or change the channel when a commercial starts when you are watching TV...don't you? If not, my mistake, I am doing something evil according to your high moral and advertising-loving status.

The grain and cropped touch of the image is because it's taken with the iphone's poor camera. If you compare with other pics besides it you see the same problem.
I say it's real.

@NewPerfection:
you need a history lesson apparently....

someone is getting fired for sure...

i dont think they are complete enemies as they are portrayed. just competitors. apple has a lot of hate ads against vista, but on their MBA walk-through the hairy armed man showed the wireless cd drive access using Microsoft Offic 2008.

and i do find it surprising, but not impossible.

The bigger issue is the awful PowerPoint slides. Should people be listening to Ballmer or reading his slides where he is quoting himself?

Why does it have to be photoshopeed?

Doesn't anyone just think that whoever took the photo just simply placed their macbook on the podium and snapped a quick picture? Is that too hard to believe?

Yes, because Microsoft has no relationship to Mac at all... besides, you know, that entire DIVISION in Redmond dedicated to Mac...

@Cygni: Exactly. And what if Balmer's running Vista on it?

Also, do iPhone take pictures that good? I'm asking seriously, here.

EDIT: *iPhones*

My bet would be that MS had set up a stage for a presentation somewhere (MS supplies logo, school supplies projector) and someone ran in, hooked up their mac, whipped up a display graphic where they meant "future graduates" and snapped their pic.

Then again if it were real and Steve was using a Mac, good for him for seeing how the competition does it.

@PsychoCemia: Or maybe instead of faking the slide and sign, whoever took the picture just placed their macbook on the podium and snapped a quick picture.

Honestly, would that have been too hard to fathom? Heck of a lot quicker then trying to photoshop a picture.

@AJ_Syrinx: I wouldn't buy the iPhone for the camera.

This picture is real. Notice how it says "for future graduates" in the presentation picture; that leads us to believe that this presentation was done at a college or university. Based on Apple's establishment in this department and the Macintosh's ability to run two operating systems, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a real photo, and Steve Ballmer is a guest.

Imagine Steve Ballmer, pro-windows, comes to a university to present, and then forcibly uses a Macintosh in front hundreds of students. Of course I would lower the screen so the audience doesn't see. To his windows-oriented mind, it might hurt.

"for future graduated**"

Aren't Mac laptops all white?

The meta data (EXIF) is inconclusive. Most photos on flicker seem to have the meta data stripped off. What holds is that the thumbnail within the JPG looks to be identical. No make or model listed with in the data. A JPG generated by an iPhone usually has both the thumbnail imbedded in the picture, as well as the camera make.

How annoying this must be for Ballmer? He already hates Apple to the guts and now even everything Microsoft turns out into Apple commercial. Gotta love this picture!

My guess is that the Mac was from the previous speaker, and this slide was standing by for Steve Ballmer to get on stage (with a PC).

Does anyone see Ballmer in that pic?

WHO THE FUCK WOULD FAKE THAT. no seriously who CARES

I love the MS fanboy reactions. Classic.

@robinwauters: that would be a horrid way to run any meeting. wait for each speaker to set up their laptop individually? seriously?

and therein is the answer to this mystery.

the machine was already set up by the meeting organizers or by the venue itself. happens ALL the time as NO ONE wants to sit and watch some jackass open his laptop... wait to discover the projector. oh? what. well it worked at home... i don't know. F8... nope still not recognizing it. darn it... well. let's reboot... do you realize how tedious and boring that is for the audience?

meanwhile the well-organized meeting has the presentation you provided preloaded onto a dedicated presentation machine. the extra well-organized meetings have 2 laptops and make sure all presentations work on both machines prior to the day even starting. in case the presenter made changes the night before... you can check and reload the presentations from a USB stick before the day starts or during a break.

to think that each presenter each brings their own machine and sets it up before each talk is pretty telling of how many real non-sucky meetings any of you people have been to.

and besides that... it isn't like Microsoft makes a Microsoft-brand laptop that Ballmer could use.

if anything... a MacBook Pro with a retail copy of Windows puts more money into Microsofts bank than a Dell with a non-retail bulk-OEM priced copy of Windows. (on the single-copy basis obviously.)

in fact... i bet they wish MORE people bought a MacBook Pro and a retail copy than a Dell with the preinstalled and cheaper OEM copy.

its as bad as the apple fanboys..

...steve ballmer is the next hitler. look how he slams the podium ;)

I doubt this is real but What does it matter! Must I remind you that Microsoft makes software and that is a picture of a piece of hardware that can run Microsoft's Software

@DeadWriter:

When I look at the details of the picture after I saved it (I assume that's the EXIF data) it says that it came from an Apple iPhone.

Usually when I come across a Photoshopped picture it will actually say that the file was edited with a program... Adobe Photoshop CS2... this does not.

All the evidence points to this picture being real. Ballmer used/uses a Mac.

this is NOT a photoshopped iphone photo!

@AJ_Syrinx:

yes, they do!

This isn't a fake. I was present at this keynote, it took place in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. The MacBook Pro was used by two other people before and this WASN'T a Boot Camp Windows as we saw Mac OS running...

Here's another pic : [flickr.com]

@grayskyz:
I dont think this is really an issue of fanboyism. You cant be a fanboy for MS in this situation because it is Mac vs PC both can run either OSX or Windows. So I dont think its the same as when someone says I dont really like OSx or an iPhone and people start screaming about how Steve jobs is the next messiah. Its more just pointing out the fact that MS doesnt have any stake in hardware and Apple does.