Bill Gates - for over 30 years now he and his company shaped the technology world, for better or worse, that's up to you to decide. On June 27th, 2008, Gates will step down to spend more time on his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while still taking on an advisory role within the biggest software company of the world. PC World listed ten of the most memorable Bill Gates moments.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2008-05-05
Not true, and if you've been a follower of OsNews you saw the news about the Filesystem-Article on Ars where it explains exactly why and when FAT was developed.
But I'm just being picky here
I think one should honour what Mr Gates achieved during his life, and the impact he and his company had on the computer industry as a whole, regardless.
Member since:2008-02-26
I missed that one but according to Wikipedia:
I also remember an interview with Bill Gates on the matter. It was probably a ripoff from another filesystem but I am pretty sure Bill Gates designed the original FAT12.
Member since:2007-09-06
"
Microsoft software wasn't always the best, yet he managed to sell better than his rivals
"
This is where most of us technically literate end users take the biggest issue. Better technology loosing out to better marketing does not benefit the end user like it benefits the share holder.
He has done some great things and the IT world would have been a different place without MS. His corporate monster has also done some real duzies towards the end users.
He was always a strategy and business genious that happened to be good with computers though rather the reverse.
On the up side, if all he does is walk around throwing money at problems; he has enough to make a noticable difference as a philanthropist. If he focuses that strategic mind on philanthropic challenges rather than business challenges; he stand to make a huge difference. It will be interesting to watch what happens after "the departure" (dunt.. dunt.. daa) though and see what the foundation can really do. You have to give credit where due.
Member since:2005-07-06
Microsoft software wasn't always the best, yet he managed to sell better than his rivals; for so long that he became the richest man in the world and the owner of a virtual monopoly.
His less than legal methods were used by other entrepreneurs, yet he was the one to succeed.
I think the problem that we the geekdom will all have is this; we will never truly understand what is going through his mind or what he believes. I'm sure there is a mountain of things he would love to rant about (with the accompanying soap box) but at the same time, he realises that given his position, he can't afford such a luxury.
If he says something mildly controversial or interesting, not only does the mud get flung on him (by pecious souls who can't take criticism) but also Microsoft as well. Even if he left Microsoft altogether, he is still viewed by some as the 'great white father' of Microsoft regardless of his employment status with the organisation.
Lets just imagine he said that at home he has a computer, he an runs FreeBSD on it (for arguments sake) and in his own time - fiddling around the source code. Could you imagine the rumours that could get started up over that little ditty of information! we'd have idiots on here claim that Windows is being moved to a FreeBSD base, Mac users declare that they were right, and wall street claiming that "Bill has lost faith with Windows" - all from a small sentence.
Its sad that we live in such a society where rumours within a space of a few hyperlinks turn into 'valuable insider information'. I'd really love to hear what Bill thinks of the current state of the IT world, in his own words, on his own terms. But I don't think we'll ever get to hear it.
Edited 2008-06-18 05:40 UTC
Member since:
2008-02-26
I believe he deserves respect for what he has achieved. He used to be an assembly programmer and managed to fit a Basic interpreter for the 8080 in 4kb. He also invented the fat filesystem, a hack still in use nowadays, and was among the pioneers of software copyright violation, both in the giving and the receiving role.
Microsoft software wasn't always the best, yet he managed to sell better than his rivals; for so long that he became the richest man in the world and the owner of a virtual monopoly.
His less than legal methods were used by other entrepreneurs, yet he was the one to succeed.