【B1】 【B8】

Microsoft is a well-known corporation and its main product is software. The man who will soon become Microsoft’s new chief executive officer, Steve Ballmer, said on Thursday that it would be " absolutely reckless and irresponsible" to break up the massive software firm. "I think it would be absolutely reckless and irresponsible for anyone to try to break up this company," Ballmer said at a news conference after Chairman Bill Gates introduced him as the new CEO. The company is in the middle of negotiations with the US Government in a landmark antitrust case. The government favors breaking up Microsoft Corp., best known for creating Windows computer operating systems. A break-up would settle the case, people familiar with the mediation talks taking place in Chicago have said. Details of the approach being taken by the government remain fluid and unclear, sources said. But Ballmer and Gates said that only a unified company able to deliver across-the-board solutions could add "real value". When being asked what he thought about breaking up the company, Gates replied, " I’m surprised people can keep a straight face when they say that would be proper thing to do."After Ballmer’s statement, a Justice Department spokesperson in Washington, D. C. declined to state the government’s view. " Because of the current posture of the case，it would be inappropriate for us to debate the merits of any particular remedy ,"said the spokesperson, Gina Talamona