Anti-Vista Mom Corners Hapless Microsoft CEO

Though he may rule the boardroom, all it took to unravel Microsoft’s chief executive was a mom on a rampage about his new Vista operating system. An analyst questioning Steve Ballmer at a conference said she’d become an early Vista adopter at her 13-year-old daughter’s request—only to revert to XP due to the new OS’ built-in difficulties, PC World reports.

After failing to run interference on the complaint—“I love your daughter,” he joked—Ballmer tried excuses, saying Vista had prioritized security. Then he went with apologies, allowing that Vista was still in beta and had fewer device drivers than he “would have liked.” Still the inquisitor was unsatisfied: “I'll let you come in and install it for me.” (More Microsoft stories.)