BetaNews says Steve Ballmer has one last chance to save his job from the guillotine.There is a lot of negativity around Microsoft lately, and it hasn’t been the stability of it’s operating system in question these days. Windows Mobile has lost it’s umph, if it ever had any. I’ve been a fan, but that’s when it’s only competition was from PalmOS. Now that the iPhone and Android have hit the market, and hit it hard, there is little reason to go with mini-Winny (or Windows Lite, if you prefer). If Windows Phone 7 is all it promises to be, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel, if it isn’t too little, too late. Office 2010 may be awesome, but sales aren’t. In fact, they claim that Office has reached its peak in customer appeal. Steve better bring his A game to the investors and pull a rabbit out of his magic hat. Microsoft needs something other than Windows 7 to bring it back to life.

July 29, 2010 may be remembered as the most important day in Steve Ballmer’s career at Microsoft. Tomorrow, the company hosts its annual Financial Analyst Meeting, or FAM. How much Ballmer and his core leadership team spend concretely talking about the future, rather than the past, will foreshadow how long the chief executive can remain the big boss. Nearly as important: Which executives will make presentations.