In 1996 MicroStrategy brought out its first product allowing users, via the Web or an intranet, to query a database without special desktop software.

FORBES: Database evangelist

Ballmer said the shift to online software and services will mean changes for all of Microsoft's businesses, which range from desktop productivity tools to database and e-mail server software.

FORBES: Microsoft's Cannibal Sacrifice

He transferred the reams of data files onto a desktop computer, spent weeks figuring out how to pull the chaos of information into a searchable database, and then started tabulating the emergency-room visits of victims of serious assault.

NEWYORKER: The Hot Spotters