"That's probably the thing I feel worst about over the last few years," says Ballmer. He vows to put more money into research and development of search technology at Microsoft. May 4, 2006: Ballmer says MSN Search, Microsoft's search engine, is gaining steam against rivals, but still trails Google and Yahoo. November 13, 2006: Microsoft launches the Zune music player, its answer to Apple's iPod. The company discontinues the Zune five years later, in 2011. Feb. 1, 2008: Microsoft makes unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion. Microsoft withdraws its offer months later due to resistance from Yahoo. April 12, 2010: Microsoft unveils the Kin phone, an attempt to compete with Apple's iPhone. The phone was discontinued two months later. May 10, 2011: Microsoft announces it will buy Internet phone service Skype for $8.5 billion.