Say what you want about Steve Ballmer, but whenever he opens his mouth, good stuff comes out. Like that Microsoft is sorta kinda at peace with people skipping Vista for Windows 7: “If people want to wait they really can... but I’d definitely deploy Vista.” He was talking about the enterprise space in this horrible economy, but you're poor too, right? After all, even he admits that "Windows 7 will be Vista, but a lot better." You know, just in case you didn't already get the point that Windows 7 is a whole lot like Vista, so you're not missing much if you wait! But don't call Windows 7 just Vista Super SP2, 'cause that make Ballmer ANGRY: “It’s not minor because it’s a lot more work than a minor release. It’s a major release.” More on this as a concession from Ballmer from Microsoft queen Mary-Jo Foley, noting that since Windows 7 really is just a year away, it's tough to genuinely sell people on Vista. Oh, and apparently we'll get to hear a lot more about Microsoft's cloud OS in less than two weeks at the Professional Developers Conference, where we'll also be getting the first real taste of Windows 7. I wonder what it will taste like. Hopefully not ham, I don't like it very much. But peanut butter would be delicious. [ZDNet]