There’s probably no bigger critic of Steve Balmer’s Microsoft than me. Its customer as a cow to be milked dry attitude angers me almost daily.

But even I’m prepared to lift my hat to it for this particular announcement. It shows that in a commercial and financial world driven by greed, deception and quite frankly, confidence tricks, some good still prevails.

Like everyone, Microsoft’s suffered in the current climate. The double-whammy of fiscal disaster and the growth of Cloud Computing has cut deep into the company’s profits.

But unlike our banking execs distasteful money grab, Steve Balmer has taken a pay cut. His salary of $665,833 remains, but his bonus has been cut by $100,000, taking his total package down to a reasonable return, given his overall performance, of $1,276,627.

OK, I accept it’s not exactly Poor Street, but sure as hell not Wall Street. Well done, Steve. Now there’s a first from me!