Speaking to Business Today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer covers a huge amount of ground on the current state of Microsoft, from the late 90's and the anti-trust issues, through the introduction of Windows Vista, ending up at the current plans for Metro UI, Windows 8 everywhere, and of course Windows Phone.

Microsoft's partnerships to deliver Windows Phone was also discussed, with Nokia's role highlighted by Ballmer:

We love Nokia and love what they are doing, but our commitment to our shareholders is to have success with the Windows Phone, and Nokia is a part of that, but Nokia is not all of that. They are only a part of our overall path to market and a path to our overall great success in the phone business

When Nokia came on board one of the premises that was important to us and to them was that this was about a third eco-system and not a third manufacturer. And the key for them would be that they were one of a set of guys who would strive for growth on the Windows Phone. And we are also pursuing that quite nicely with our other partners.

Lots of background here on how Microsoft is approaching the next few years, and lining up the different areas of the business. Read on at Business Today.