Microsoft will spend $500 million this year to promote upcoming products designed to <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6050458.html?tag=nl.e589">make business workers more productive,</A> CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday. Software due to arrive over the next year will cater to information workers in corporations, he told an audience at a Microsoft-organized customer event. The event was specifically targeted at business executives, such as CEOs, rather than IT workers or developers.