Despite shipping 50 million copies of Windows in the second quarter, revenues from Windows XP and Vista fell 8% as its most lucrative customers -- businesses -- chose to hold on longer to their existing PCs, Ballmer said.
In terms of severance for the 1,400 employees to be immediately laid-off, Microsoft expects to pay "several tens of millions of dollars, less than $100 million," Liddell said.
Microsoft is not planning to cut employee costs in order to spend more on acquiring companies, Liddell added.
"We may buy a few SMEs, but activity will be relatively low in the next quarter or two," he said.
One analyst pressed Ballmer on whether Microsoft would consider selling off certain businesses to raise cash and get leaner. But Ballmer rejected the idea. "I like our portfolio," he said. "The board likes our portfolio."
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