Steve Ballmer and other executives, including Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates, issued a stern warning to analysts that the company’s growth could be hurt by a potential slowdown in sales of personal computers, saturation in the market for high-end word processors and other applications, and discount pricing by desperate rivals; they said they expect sales of the high-end Windows NT operating system to improve sharply in the current fiscal year with the imminent release of the major Daytona 3.5 version; executive vice-president Mike Maples said Microsoft would ship the latest version of its Office suite for Apple Computer Inc’s 68000-based Macintosh line next month, and the PowerPC version in September.
