Another question arose from the recent success of Apple's App Store and Facebook for helping independent developers make money via the host vendors application delivery mechanism. Ballmer wants to do more here for Microsoft developers.

"Making money is a good thing and with some of the competitive opportunities I don't think anyone is making any money," he said. "Some good work is being done with Facebook and the iPhone where it's easy for developers to distribute applications. It's easier to get exposure. Not much money is being made, but giving developers a way to get more visibility of their code is a good idea.

"Microsoft can do more here. We are not ready to talk about opportunities, but fear not! We are hard at work, particularly with Facebook."

Looks like Microsoft is working on a more streamlined way to bring more ISVs (emphasis on independent) into its technology stack before the are irreversibly lost to competing platforms. A well marketed application repository is the perfect way to achieve this.

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