Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer has slammed Apple’s OS X Snow Leopard and it’s Safari browser. He claims Microsoft is actually gaining market share and told Techcrunch: “Apple is expensive. In a tough economic environment, people get it. Their model is, by definition, expensive.”

Apple’s seen a sales bump since it debuted cheaper Macbook Pros in June and OS X Snow Leopard sales are strong but Ballmer seems to believe that trend won’t continue. He’s focusing on netbooks but says they’re “just the first battleground.”

Ballmer acknowledged that Firefox has bitten a big chunk out of Internet Explorer’s share of the browser marker. But he was scathing about Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari. “Chrome is a rounding error,” he said, “Safari is a rounding error…but Firefox is not.”

With the Microsoft Courier set to battle the Apple mac tablet, we’re not suprised Ballmer is getting so bolshey. But is he right to be so scornful of the new browsers?

Out now | £free | Microsoft (via Techcrunch via AppleInsider)

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