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Bill Gates is a computer genius who was behind the creation of the most popular Windows software in the world from Microsoft Corporation. An entrepreneur whose name topped the list of the richest and most influential people planets. A businessman who donates an impressive part of his fortune to charity.
Childhood and youth
Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, USA, the son of William Henry Gates II, a corporate lawyer, and Mary Maxwell Gates, who held senior positions on the board of directors of several major US companies. Bill was the second child in the family, he has two sisters - the older Christy and the younger Libby.
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Bill Gates as a child
When the boy went to school, his parents enrolled him in the most privileged educational institution in Seattle - Lakeside. Bill's favorite subject was programming, to which he devoted all his free time. As a teenager, the American wrote his first game in Basic. Although these were only Tic-Tac-Toe, for the boy they became the starting point in his future success in his professional biography.
At a prestigious school in Seattle, a student began to develop programming skills on a mini-computer, but some subjects were difficult to strengthen. He considered lessons in grammar and civics to be trivial in their own way, but in mathematics, the future billionaire had only the highest scores. In elementary school, Bill did not show results at all, and the grades disappointed his parents so much that they turned to specialists for help. The father and mother were forced to refer their son to a psychiatrist.
Young Bill Gates and his mother Mary
In high school, Bill meets Paul Allen, who would later become his main business partner, but at school, the guys had more fun hacking computer programs, without thinking about the strategy for developing innovative ideas.
In 1970, together with a school friend, Bill wrote the first traffic control program and started a distribution company called Traf-O-Data. This project brought the authors $ 20 thousand. Such success made the programmers believe in own forces, defining the future strategy for the implementation of their own concepts for many years to come.
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Bill Gates in his youth
In 1971, Bill and Paul even worked for a professional company, Information Sciences. The guys wrote a program for maintaining payroll, but did not have time to finish it, since the project was stopped. Gates and Allen also worked as schoolchildren for TRW, where they programmed some of the code for a project that employees of the Bonneville Energy Authority planned to use.
In 1973, Bill Gates becomes a student at Harvard University. Of course, he was going to specialize in software, but the practical side of the matter attracted the young man much more than the theory of science, so the unmotivated student missed a lot of classes. After studying only 2 courses, the novice programmer was expelled from the university.
Microsoft company
In early 1975, Paul Allen learns that Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems is releasing a new generation of Altair 8800 computers. Bill Gates gets bold and calls Ed Roberts, who led this organization. Soon after the MITS interview, the cronies become partners in the company.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates
Initially, they planned the name "Allen and Gates", but such names are not typical for the high-tech market. Then the guys looked at the name of the employer company, deciding on a specific phrase - Micro-Soft (Microprocessors and Software). Within a year, the hyphen from the brand name disappeared, and in November 1976 the Microsoft trademark was registered.
In 1976, Gates also introduced the practice of licensing proprietary software for direct use by computer manufacturers, allowing them to embed new operating systems and programming languages into PCs. This marketing innovation increased the organization's revenues.
Bill Gates and Steve JobsSoon MITS ceased to exist, but Microsoft was able to attract new customers. Apple Corporation, founded by Steve Jobs, and Commodore, as well as computer developer Radio shack, became new Microsoft partners.
Friends and business partners began to plan the development of an innovative structure for decades. Allen dealt mainly with technical issues, while Gates focused on developing public relations, contracts, and other business contacts. The result of the work Microsoft became the Microsoft Fortran operating system, which appeared in 1977. This OS can be safely considered the first full-fledged competitor to the standard CP / M system for computers based on Intel.
Embed from Getty Images Microsoft CEO Bill GatesIn 1980, Microsoft achieves success by making a deal with the "shark" of the computer business - IBM Corporation. Gates and Allen came up with a more enticing system for their new computer than Digital Research, with which IBM had partnered earlier. Not the least important for achieving this goal was the friendly acquaintance of Gates's mother with IBM executives John Opel and John Akers.
Bill and Paul's company soon introduced a new MS-DOS system to the computer market, which for a long time will become the main operating system for personal computers based on Intel. In 1985, Microsoft released the Windows system, which differed from all previous competitors in graphic design. Thus began the computer era of Windows, although the real breakthrough came only in 1993 after the appearance of the third version of this system - Windows 3.1.
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Bill Gates
In 1986, Microsoft entered the stock markets. The value of the shares grew rapidly, and within a few months, Bill Gates became a billionaire. Gradually, the company's position is strengthened. By 1988, Microsoft is already the largest computer software developer in the world.
By 1998, Gates becomes the richest man in the world. Now financial opportunities allowed him to focus on programming, and he announced that he was leaving the organization. Until 2006, Bill was still in charge of product strategy at Microsoft, but decided to step down from business development duties, stating that he wanted to devote his time to philanthropy.
Career
In 1989, the businessman founded Corbis. The main task of this structure was the licensing of photographs, videos and other multimedia material for the media. Gates' idea was that in the future, people would decorate their homes not with paintings, but with electronic reproductions of them.
Businessman Bill Gates
Corbis owns the rights to reproduce images of works of art in museums around the world. The St. Petersburg Hermitage, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the London National Gallery are constantly collaborating with the American entrepreneur's company. Personally, Bill Gates purchased a collection of rare works by Leonardo da Vinci, which are now on display at the Seattle Museum of Art.
In the fall of 2008, Gates registered a new company, bgC3 (Bill Gates Company Three). This acronym stands for Bill Gates Third Company. The main tasks of the organization are research and analytical. It is a center providing scientific and technological services.
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Bill Gates and Melinda Gates
In addition, Bill Gates does a lot of charity work. He and his wife Melinda became the founders of the world's largest charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which provides assistance to all those in need, regardless of nationality. The purpose of this enterprise is to support and improve the health system, as well as overcome hunger in poor countries. From his own funds, Gates partially funded the Republican presidential campaign in 2004, spending more than $30,000.
The entrepreneur is passionate about the ideas of maintaining environmental safety on Earth. In collaboration with Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates created the Breakthrough Energy Coalition fund, whose job is to find and attract private investment in the production of clean energy sources.
Books
Bill Gates has released two bestsellers. In these books, the entrepreneur decided to tell own history success. In 1995, The Road Ahead was published, which at one time was on the best-seller list of the American newspaper The New York Times.
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Bill Gates with books
In 1999, Gates published the book Business the Speed of Thought ("Business at the speed of thought"). The work has been translated into 25 languages. The author in publications talks about how to use computer technology to solve problems in business. Proceeds from the sale of both books were donated to non-profit organizations that support the development of technology and education.
The history of the origin and development of the computer industry was captured in the film Pirates of Silicon Valley, which was released in 1999. The drama was about the confrontation between Microsoft and Apple. Spectators and critics noted the great similarity of the leading actors and their heroes. The image of Bill Gates in the frame was recreated by Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Allen was presented by Josh Hopkins.
Personal life
The personal life of an entrepreneur is connected with one woman. In 1987, Bill Gates met Microsoft employee Melinda French at a business meeting in New York. They got married on January 1, 1994. After 2 years, the couple had a daughter, Jennifer Katarin, and later two more children - son Rory John and daughter Phoebe Adele.
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda
For the amount of money that Bill and his wife annually spend on charity, Time magazine in 2005 named them people of the year. Their family photo was placed on the cover of the publication, where interviews and articles about the business and charity of the computer genius are often published. In the same year, Bill received a knighthood of the British Empire for his contribution to the development of innovative enterprises in the UK and efforts to reduce poverty in the world.
That is how, with a magazine article, it began. Rather, Micro-Soft - Paul Allen named the company with a hyphen, since it was an abbreviation of two words: microprocessor (microprocessor) and software (software). Young developers - Gates was 20 years old at the time of the company's founding - 22 - entered into the first agreement with MITS, which created Altair, two months before the company was founded. However, even then the program code contained the following playful phrase: “Micro-Soft BASIC: Bill Gates wrote a lot of stuff; Paul Allen wrote some other stuff."
Success comes to friends almost instantly - their software becomes popular, and already in 1978, three years after the company was founded, Microsoft had a sales office in Japan. But the real success comes to the company in 1981, at the moment when a PC appears on the market that runs on MS-DOS. The basis for the system was 86-DOS, which Gates and Allen bought from Seattle Computer Products and modified to meet the requirements of IBM.
The history of Microsoft's most important product, Windows, began in 1984. Then it was just a shell for MS-DOS. And although conservative users did not take the add-in seriously (“you need to interact with the computer using commands, not graphics!”), The windowed interface eventually showed its viability.
It is noteworthy that Gates was accused of stealing the interface by Steve Jobs, whose Macintosh computers already had a similar interface.
However, Gates retorted this by saying that Xerox, which was known not only as manufacturers of office equipment, originally had such an interface.
“I think it was more like we had a rich neighbor named Xerox, and when I broke into his house to steal his TV, I saw that you had already done it before me,” Gates addressed directly to , implying that it is not his invention either.
By that time, Allen, who served as vice president, had already left Microsoft. In 1983, he sold his shares to Bill for $10 a share, retaining only a small fraction and a seat on the company's board of directors. Later, he recalled that Gates wanted to earn as much as possible and did not let go of anything.
Also in 1983, Microsoft introduced its first device, a mouse simply called the Microsoft Mouse. It was intended to make it more convenient to work with the Word text editor. At that time, there was no Office suite yet. Moreover, the constant "friends" of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, themselves appeared in 1985 and 1987, respectively. They became a single package of applications in 1989, with a version for Macintosh first appearing, and only in 1990 a Windows version was released.
By that time, Windows itself had already become the most popular add-on for MS-DOS.
But still an add-on. It became an independent system in Windows 95, when it finally “absorbed” MS-DOS. At the same time, the Start menu that captivated users appeared, the rejection of which in Windows 8 became one of the main reasons for criticizing the company.
With Windows 95 the principle of alternation of “success” of systems from Microsoft, which has become a byword, begins to operate. According to the playful rule, the company's successful Windows come out in one, and the countdown of good ones starts just with Windows 95. Oddly enough, it still applies: if XP was extremely successful, then Vista caused a wave of indignation. It was replaced by Windows 7, which many have called a worthy successor to Piggy. In turn, Windows 8 has again become an object of abuse.
The history of Microsoft mobile products also begins in the 1990s. The first version of Windows CE (Compact Edition), designed for portable devices and embedded systems, was released in 1996 and was based on Windows 95. devices with tiny screens designed to work with a stylus.
But then it was a breakthrough - a Pocket PC communicator, which was later renamed Windows Mobile, should have been used by every self-respecting businessman to work with documents.
Now handheld devices on Windows no longer have that popularity. To strengthen the weak this moment in 2013, the company took a very important step in the mobile device market - Microsoft acquired the mobile division of the Finnish Nokia, having at its disposal the Lumia smartphone line, a team of engineers and a license to the company's patents until 2023.
The current Windows Phone used in Lumia is partly a descendant of Windows CE - Windows Phone 7 was nothing more than WinMobile with an interface written in Silverlight. Subsequently, Microsoft abandoned the CE platform in handheld devices in favor of the NT desktop kernel. In Windows 10, the company will finally merge mobile and desktop systems into one.
The company's other highly successful product, the Xbox One game console, will also run on Windows 10. The family of consoles that managed to challenge the Sony Playstation and steal market share from Nintendo appeared in 2001. The console ran on a heavily modified version of Windows 2000. Although the first generation was not a super hit, the Xbox 360 that replaced it became one of the best-selling consoles in history. And this is despite the fact that the first versions of the set-top box had an almost 100% manufacturing defect, which led to overheating and “killed” the device without the possibility of recovery.
But still, Xbox is a marketing victory for the company. Oddly enough, there were not so many of them, despite the fact that Microsoft products are almost everywhere and are the de facto standard in mass computer technology.
For example, few people know that Microsoft demonstrated the first "smart" watch back in 1994. It was a joint product with Timex called DataLink. Of course, they did not know how to show incoming messages and wake the user up with vibration. But they could store your contacts (the phone book contained 50 numbers) and information about meetings and events from the calendar. The connection to the computer was carried out using a unique optical sensor, the reader of which was connected to the computer. Similar watches, for example, were used by astronauts on the ISS.
Microsoft also tried to enter the music player market. So, the Zune device had to take the fight to its iPod. But in fact, Zune was the company's failure. And it's not the device itself - it received a nice metal case, an excellent screen, and the amount of memory should have been enough for almost any music lover of the 2006 model. As a result, the Zune project was decided to be curtailed, since it was too tough to compete with the Microsoft iPod.
Another crushing defeat for Microsoft is tablet market share. Bill Gates introduced the first such device in 2002. It was standard Windows XP with minor modifications to optimize the system for the stylus. However, the fact remains that until 2010, when the iPad appeared, Microsoft did not take any serious steps to popularize the tablet form factor among the masses - then these were purely utilitarian devices.
Neither the calm and reasonable Bill Gates, nor his successor, the eccentric and emotional one, who took over as CEO of the company in 2008, was able to move the situation. In fact, he continued the policy of Gates and did not bring anything new to the policy of the company. The first (and often only) thing that comes to mind when you mention his name is the famous "Developers!" ("developers") - the word that he, jumping around the stage, shouted into the hall at one of the conferences 14 times. And since this happened even before he took the chair of the CEO, this fact clearly shows that his personality and his character resonated more strongly with the people than his leadership.
Moreover, under Ballmer, Microsoft lost more than $1 billion on Surface RT tablets running the ARM version of Windows. One of the key disadvantages of this device is the inability to install familiar Windows applications due to the mobile architecture of the system.
But still, Ballmer cannot be blamed for the troubles of the company - under him, it became richer and richer, increasing both capital and capitalization.
Now he has been replaced by the third CEO of Microsoft - former vice president of the company Satya Nadella, who was previously responsible for cloud systems. Nadella continues to work in his usual direction. Under him, the company began to reorient towards the sale of services (including mobile) instead of selling boxed products.
It is also curious that under Nadella, Microsoft began to get rid of the image of a "boring" company and began to occupy a niche of "cool", gently pushing Apple out of it. The latest presentation, where the company showed Windows 10 and Windows HoloLens, only confirmed this.
However, it cannot be said that all this is entirely the merit of Nadella - after all, the chairman of the board of directors of Microsoft is none other than Bill Gates. And although his powers are not enough to directly control the actions of Nadella, this is the person who absolutely everyone in the company listens to. And if you allow yourself a little slyness, then we can say that it was Gates who, through the hands of Nadella, began to direct the company towards services, abandoning the usual business model.
And, apparently, Microsoft will be on horseback for a long time. After all, at 40, as you know, life is just beginning.
Microsoft (Microsoft Corporation, read "Microsoft")- the largest (profit for 2008 - 17.7 billion dollars with a turnover of 60.4 billion dollars) transnational company producing software for various types of computing equipment - personal computers, game consoles, PDAs, mobile phones and others. Also produces some accessories for personal computers (keyboards, mice, etc.). The company is headquartered in Redmond (a suburb of Seattle), Washington.
Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, students at the time. The name of the company is an abbreviation from English. MICROcomputer SOFTware (software for microcomputers).
Microsoft founders
William Henry Gates III (William Henry Gates III) born October 28, 1955 in Seattle where his father William Henry Gates II (William Henry Gates II) worked as a lawyer. Mother, Mary Gates, was a school teacher and also served on various boards of directors, including the University of Washington, United Way International, USWest, and First Interstate Bancorp. In addition to Bill, who received the nickname Trey in the family (the word "trey" means three in card games and in this case is associated with a "numbered" prefix to the name), the Gates raised two daughters: Kristi (Kristi) - a year older than his brother, and Libby ( Libby), who was nine years younger than him.
After high school, he attended Harvard University, but dropped out to pursue what became his life's work: software development.
On January 1, 1994, Gates married Melinda French. Bill Gates first met Melinda in 1987 at a Microsoft press briefing in New York. She, as it turned out, had been working for his company for a long time. Melinda left the service, marrying the boss, and soon their daughter, Jennifer, was born. In the shadow of her husband, Melinda plunged headlong into charitable work. Above all, she values her privacy and, as a rule, does not give interviews to journalists. They have three children and live in a very large house on a hillside overlooking Lake Washington. This is a very modern house of the XXI century in the style of "Pacific House", full of complex electronic systems.
(Paul Allen) was born on January 21, 1953 in Seattle (USA), in the family of a librarian. He studied at a private school Lakeside in Seattle (Lakeside School) with Bill Gates, with whom they had been friends since childhood. Together they were fond of computer programming, skipped the last class of school together. Of course, the decision to drop out of university after sophomore year is always credited to Bill Gates. Be that as it may, together with Allen they got a job in the same company. Paul spoke with the founder of Microsoft, from whose leadership he left in 1983. The official version claims that due to illness, evil tongues talk about disagreements with Bill. Which of them was the main generator of ideas in the company is a mystery, but be that as it may, Allen was destined to forever remain "No. 2" in the history of Microsoft.
How it all began
When Bill graduated from elementary school, his parents decided that ordinary education would not suit their son, and they sent him to study on the other side of the city - at the private Lakeside School. Gates enjoyed participating in school theater productions, but he was most interested in classes in one of the academic buildings, where a computer terminal was installed. At the age of 13, Bill, who had demonstrated excellent academic ability, took up programming.
Bill is 13 years old, next to Paul Allen, with whom he later founded Microsoft (1968)
At school, together with his friend Paul Allen, Bill studied the BASIC programming language from a textbook. And it should be noted that Paul's passion for computers reached fanaticism. In an interview given in 1995 to the American edition of Fortune, Bill Gates told the story of an embarrassment that happened to his friend at a graduation ceremony on the occasion of the end of the school year. The administration simply refused to give Allen a certificate until the future billionaire's mother, who was present at the ceremony, paid the debt of $ 200 for the computer time used by her offspring. Allen, in addition to such hobbies as cinema, books, guitar, chess, scuba diving, had another passion - cards. During his school years, Paul Allen was famous for playing poker. As the legend goes, it was while playing poker that he met his future friend, partner and colleague, Bill Gates.
In the eighth grade, Bill Gates wrote his first programs: one that converted numbers from one mathematical base to another, the other was a game of tic-tac-toe. Later, Bill created a computer version of the board strategy game Risk, in which the goal is to world domination. Gates and Allen soon got unlimited time to use the computer at a local company. As a payment, schoolchildren had to identify and correct problems in the operation of the machine. As Gates's father recalled, in order to work with the computer, Bill even secretly left the house at night. There is a legend according to which the fifteen-year-old Gates managed to crack the two most advanced operating systems at that time - DEC and CDC.
In the ninth grade, Gates set himself the goal of getting only excellent grades and safely entered the top ten students in the country on the results of math tests. In the tenth grade, he already taught computer skills and wrote a program that was responsible for scheduling school classes, from which he earned $ 4,200.
With Allen and another close friend, Kent Evans, Gates formed the Lakeside Programmers Group, which was commissioned to develop a payroll program for a Seattle firm. Then the first conflict occurred between Allen and Gates: Allen decided to do all the work on his own, but soon realized that he could not do without Gates. Bill agreed to return, but made a condition: "Okay, but I'll be in charge and I'll get used to being in charge, and now it will be difficult to deal with me if I'm not in charge."
By the end of school, Gates had become self-employed. Together with friends, he organized a company that analyzed traffic in the city and made special schedules. This enterprise, which was called Traf-O-Data, brought its creators 20 thousand dollars. At the age of seventeen, Gates was commissioned to write a software package for the distribution of power at the Bonneville Dam. For a year of work on this project, he received $30,000, and in addition, the project was credited by the school as the majority of required coursework.
The biggest shock in the later school years for Bill was the death of Evans, who crashed while climbing. After that, Gates became even closer to Allen. Together they studied the programming language of artificial intelligence.
Altair 8800 and Micro-soft base
In 1971, Paul, who entered Washington State University, read an article about the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. The computer "brain" was compressed to the size of a chip, and this made the dream of a time when everyone would have their own table on the table become a reality. own personal copy of the computer. Allen, inspired by what he had read, enthusiastically proved to his friend that microprocessors would now be constantly improved and form the basis of future computing systems. And a year later, friends pooled together, for $ 360, they bought a miracle of the then technology - the Intel 8008 microprocessor. It was supposed to serve as the heart of a computer for traffic control: According to Paul Allen himself, their first joint venture with Bill, Traf-O- Data, organized in 1972, although it brought some profit, was generally not very successful. Crushed by price competition, the partners were forced to "cover up" their business. However, what could break others, for Allen and Gates was just a good lesson for the future.
In 1973, Gates entered his first year at Harvard University. At Harvard, he lived on the same floor as Steve Ballmer, who is now Microsoft's vice president of sales and support.
Popular Electronics Magazine January 1975
In the winter of 1974, Paul Allen came across an article published in Popular Electronics magazine about the world's first Altair 8800 microcomputer, assembled on the basis of Intel's latest 8080 microprocessor. The microcomputer was sold by mail order as a DIY kit by a tiny company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This company was called MITS and was headed by a certain Ed Roberts. Confident in the coming success of desktop computers, he realized that this was exactly what was needed. As a programmer, Paul realized that without a convenient programming language, Altair was practically useless for computer enthusiasts. Gates was of the same opinion. It was a small matter - to “teach” the first personal computer the language and not miss this chance until others took up the job. The uniqueness of the situation also consisted in the fact that Allen and Gates had in their hands an almost ready-made project of the BASIC language interpreter, created while working on their own Traf-O-Data project. Adapting it to the Altair was a matter of technique. It remained to convince the leadership of MITS of the correctness of their ideas.
MITS. Photograph of the shops where Altair computers were produced in 8800 (during lunch, when there are no workers)
Cunning Paul and Bill immediately contacted MITS and said that at the moment they have an excellent version of the BASIC language, which, frankly, they did not even have in sight. However, in addition to the trick, Bill and Paul had three weeks at their disposal, after which face-to-face contact with MITS representatives was to take place. There remained a mere trifle - to compose the interpreter itself. And three weeks later the plane was already carrying friends, so to speak, towards success. Negotiations with Altair 8800 manufacturer Ed Roberts were carried out with youthful perseverance and assertiveness. As a result, Paul Allen was hired by MITS, and the buddies got a contract to develop the Altair programming language and an office to work with. Who would have known that this was the beginning of a legend. Soon punched cards with Basic hit the market for $150 a copy. From that moment, Micro-soft originates, just like that, through a hyphen, an abbreviation from English. MICROcomputer SOFTware (software for microcomputers).
Among the most enthusiastic fans of Altair, of course, are the members of the Homemade Computer Club organized at that time. Geographically, it was located in California, in the town of Palo Alto, and was an independent association of computer enthusiasts.
"Letter to Lovers"
At their meetings, which were held in a relaxed atmosphere, club members exchanged information, technical advice, computer parts and programs. No information relating to computer hardware or software, no matter how hard it took to get it, was hidden.
Naturally, amateurs - the true bearers of the spirit of hackers - were eager to get their hands on a BASIC interpreter for the Altair machine. But the MITS company sold a ribbon with the program for $500, which created an insurmountable barrier between BASIC and the main part of computer enthusiasts. In June 1975, a group of engineers from MITS demonstrated the Altair at a seminar in Palo Alto. To the delight of the many Homemade Computer hackers who were present, the model shown allowed BASIC to work.
Unable to resist the temptation, one of the members of the club grabbed a spare punched tape, which happened to be not far from the working Altair teletype. At the next meeting at the club, he asked one of the participants to make several copies of this tape. Soon every member of the club who wished to have a ribbon was able to get it. And then, through the national hacker network, the BASIC for the Altair machine quickly spread to other hacker clubs.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates, who sold their software to MITS on a royalty-free basis, were more than dejected by this development. Their annoyance grew even more when it became apparent that the number of buyers would have been much larger if this "self-published" version of the program had not appeared.
After the initial outrage subsided somewhat, Bill Gates sent an "open letter to hobbyists" that was published in several computer publications. The letter noted that Bill Gates and Paul Allen received a lot of praise for their program, but it also revealed that most of those who do not skimp on praise, in fact, did not buy the program. “How could this happen? - Bill Gates asked the question, and then he himself answered it, expressing a sharp accusation against amateurs. “All these many amateurs should be aware that they actually stole the program,” he wrote. Who can afford to do professional work for just that? What hobbyist can spend three man-years programming, finding all the bugs, documenting the product, and then giving it away for free?
For Bill Gates, the answer to this question was obvious, but not everyone shared his point of view. For example, the editor of a small amateur publication stated that "the best thing to do was to tear up the letter and forget about it." And members of one computer club even discussed the question of whether Bill Gates should be taken to court for an unfounded accusation of theft. Of the several hundred letters Gates received in response to his protest, most contained a negative response and only five or six contained a check requested by Bill Gates in payment for a BASIC interpreter smuggled out.
The dispute between Bill Gates and hackers has become known in computer circles as the software scandal. Some hackers held their own for many years after the scandal subsided. They wrote and distributed so-called public domain programs that anyone could use for free. These programs can still be found in hundreds of computer bulletins distributed throughout the United States.
Collaboration with IBM
Let's get back to Microsoft. At first, the company did not do well. Gates, Allen and their associates worked around the clock, but did not have the strength and means to create any ingenious product. Opportunities (and maybe talent) at that time were enough for all sorts of details: for example, improvements were made to BASIC. The company could not afford to hire a sales manager; Bill's mother did it, offering Microsoft programs without the slightest embarrassment to huge corporations like IBM and AT&T.
1977. July. Microsoft begins selling its second programming language, FORTRAN.
1978. April 11. Start of sales of the third programming language COBOL-80 for microprocessor systems 8080, Z-80 and 8085.
1979. April 4. BASIC 8080 is the first software product to receive the million dollar ICP award. This award, given to Paul, is Microsoft's first award.
1979. June 18. Microsoft introduces BASIC for computer systems on the 8086 microprocessor. This is the first high-level resident language that appeared for 16-bit machines. From this moment, the widespread use of this processor begins.
All this is great, but the real ascent to Everest began when the decision to seriously engage in the production of personal computers matured in the depths of International Business Machines. In 1980, IBM invited Microsoft to start developing the core operating system for all of its personal computers. By that time, Microsoft already had 39 people working - the company developed and supplied programming languages to IBM, but Bill did not have a suitable OS. He had to recommend that IBM turn to Microsoft's rival, Digital Research, which already had the fairly popular CP/M system installed on many 8-bit computers. Having deliberately contributed to the competitor's success, Gates immediately corrected himself: IBM management was sent a whole dissertation on the need to switch to a more powerful 16-bit 8080 processor from Intel. Apparently, the text turned out to be convincing, as a result of which CP / M was rejected, and Digital Research signed an agreement to develop a new operating system (However, some reliable sources claim that IBM already had the 8085A processor, which was quite 16-bit, except for the 8-bit data bus; where the truth is, we do not undertake to judge).
Microsoft had time to get ahead of DR, and the firm didn't miss a beat. Moreover, fate was more than indulgent: Paul Allen made contact with a small company, Seattle Compute Products, which had the necessary operating system, but simply did not have time to optimize it by the time the IBM PC appeared, the “release” of which was to take place in a month. In addition to buying the Seattle Computer development, 86-DOS, Microsoft hired Tim Patterson, its creator. Gates and the company actively brought to mind the OS purchased from Seattle Computer, working 25 hours a day.
The second time was lucky when they managed to persuade IBM to sign a contract with Microsoft to supply a new operating system. Conditions of a contract (managers now study as an example of a classic mistake) were done. According to him, IBM assumed the cost of producing the system and promised to sell computers only with PC-DOS. (first version of MS-DOS), while deducting Microsoft a percentage of each machine sold.
1979. June 25. Microsoft becomes a privately held corporation with Bill Gates, chairman of the board, and Paul Allen, executive vice president, taking over. August 2. IBM presents its PC, which uses the 16-bit Microsoft operating system - MS-DOS 1.0, as well as BASIC, COBOL, Pascal and other Microsoft Inc. software products.
1982. April 1st. Opened the first sales and marketing office in Europe, as well as the first foreign office of the company - in the UK.
1982. April 27. Microsoft announces BW-BASIC, a graphics support product that gives you more ways to work with Microsoft BASIC.
1982. November. The number of installations of MS-DOS is growing rapidly - in the first 16 months, 50 computer manufacturers bought a license from Microsoft for this 16-bit operating system.
Microsoft's dependence on IBM alone ran counter to Gates' free-spirited spirit. The next lengthy letter sent to the patrons was devoted to the expediency of selling MS-DOS under license to other computer manufacturers. “The spread of MS-DOS will help fight the influence of the main competitor, “Apple Computer” – IBM has given up to this argument. But that was not all.
From the beginning of the eighties, the production of computers in the West began to grow, one might say exponentially. IBM still retained its leadership, however, could no longer be considered a monopolist: Compaq was formed and began to develop actively, the PC market attracted the attention of Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments. But it seems unlikely that these and other firms would be able to successfully compete with IBM if they happened to develop their own operating systems against the backdrop of the growing popularity of MS-DOS. Seizing the moment, Bill encouraged some of the leading PC manufacturers (like Compaq) to create products designed to be fully compatible with IBM machines so that any program written for IBM could be used on those computers. Gates' gift of persuasion led to the fact that MS-DOS began to be bought wholesale and retail, almost standing in line for it - MS-DOS was installed on 80% of all PCs, thanks to which the concept of "IBM compatibility" arose. The successful promotion of MS-DOS was Microsoft's first step towards a monopoly.
Realizing the results of the contract with Microsoft, IBM management tried to renegotiate the terms of the agreement. But since there were only moral grounds for this, the attempts did not lead to anything.
OS /2
Windows 1.0 users are finally able to work with several programs at the same time and freely switch between them. True, overlapping of windows is not allowed, which sharply reduces the convenience of the environment. In addition, quite a few programs are written for Windows 1.0, as a result, it has not received distribution on the market.
1986. March 13. Microsoft shares go public and start at $21 per share, but rise to $28 by the end of the day. The initial share offer rose to $61 million.
1986. April 18. The Software Vendors Association awards annual "Best Software" awards in the "Best Business Software" and "Best Performing Product" categories. Microsoft Excel for PC Macintosh, in the categories "Best Technical Achievement", "Best User Interface" and " Best Product year" - Microsoft Windows.
1987. April. Microsoft and IBM announce an agreement to develop the OS /2 operating system.
1987. September 8. The first Microsoft application on CD, Bookshelf, is released.
1987. November 1. Windows 2.0 has been released. Unlike previous versions with a tiled window placement system, the system of overlapping windows is implemented here. It also takes advantage of the protected mode of the 80826 and better processors, allowing programs to overcome the 640 KB DOS main memory limit.
1988. May 31. The operating system OS /2, version 1.1 appears with Presentation Manager.
1988. October 9th. Windows 386 is released, a Windows 2.0 edition optimized for the latest processor from Intel; it lays the foundation for most of the future features of Windows 3.0.
1988. November. International sales account for 48% of all Microsoft software sales. Excel for Windows 2.0, the first graphical spreadsheet for the IBM-compatible PC, was conceived as a program with which Microsoft hoped to supplant the spreadsheet market leader, LOTUS. True, Excel was quite demanding on resources, and its use required its own device drivers, which somewhat reduced the competitiveness of the product.
The OS /2 operating system began as a joint development between IBM and Microsoft (although most of the work was to be done by Microsoft). It was originally conceived as a replacement for DOS. Even then it was clear that DOS, with its memory and file system limitations, would not be able to take advantage of the computing power of emerging computers. OS /2 was a well thought out system. It had to support preemptive multitasking, virtual memory, a graphical user interface, a virtual machine for running DOS applications.
The first versions of OS /2 did not have a significant impact on the market. OS /2 1.0, released in 1987, had most of the technical features needed for a multitasking OS. However, it lacked a presentation manager (PM) and drivers for many popular printers and other devices. OS/2 1.1, which appeared in 1989, included a rudimentary version of PM that finally made multi-window graphical applications possible. Released in 1990, version 1.2 had an improved PM, although it did not follow conventional GUI concepts. There are drivers for most printers and other peripherals.
But the discrediting of OS /2 has already happened. Version 1.2 wasn't much better than the previous ones and still had significant hardware requirements. In addition, many popular DOS applications became unavailable to OS /2 users, and those that were available could not interact with the OS /2 environment, remaining with the tried and true, though not very perfect, DOS. Many users choose to upgrade to the new Windows 3.0 platform or wait until something fundamentally better comes along.
The difficulties of OS /2 force Microsoft to continue working on Windows, while IBM continues to develop OS /2. After some time, representatives of IBM express dissatisfaction with the fact that Microsoft shifts the focus to the development of Windows. After the advent of Windows 3.0, when 3 million copies of the system were sold in a year (whereas only 300,000 OS / 2 packages were sold since the completion of development in 1987), the paths of the two corporations finally diverge. Gates himself, dismissing all the accusations as unfounded, modestly says that the whole point is that "Microsoft has changed the world a lot."
In June 1988, Digital Research releases DR-DOS, which, according to the press, outperforms MS-DOS due to its more powerful utilities. However, further development of the OS was hampered by the need to make changes to ensure compatibility with Windows, and DR-DOS never gained a significant market share, dying safely in 94.
1990. March 13. The corporation announces the accrual of 100% dividends on shares. Shareholders learn that they receive one additional share for every share purchased prior to March 26, 1990.
1990. April 2. A Russian version of MS-DOS appears - the first software product localized for the Soviet market. The number of foreign language versions of MS-DOS has reached 13.
1990. 25 July. In celebration of the company's 15th anniversary, $1.18 billion in annual revenue was announced. Microsoft becomes the first software company to exceed $1 billion in annual sales. The number of Microsoft employees at that time was 5975 people.
1990. September 17th. Windows Marketing Program announced, the largest single product marketing program in Microsoft's 15-year history.
Windows 3.0
When Windows 3.0 came out, many agreed that this system, which had a graphical interface and could multitask, really looked more friendly and user-friendly. Programmer-focused improvements have led to an explosion of activity in the Windows software market. The stability of the OS leaves much to be desired, but Windows 3.0 is becoming the dominant product in the market thanks to pre-installation on new computers and extensive support from independent hardware and software vendors. Microsoft's relentless drive to make Windows a workable OS is finally bearing fruit. After the introduction of Windows 3.0, which made the computer quite accessible to the layman, Apple sued Microsoft, accusing it of copyright infringement.
Over Windows, not looking up from the displays, almost the entire team of the company worked for about 10 years. And those who could not stand the frantic rhythm quit. In 1986, Gates broke up even with Paul Allen, who developed blood cancer from prolonged computer exposure and overwork. Fortunately, Paul managed to overcome a fatal illness, but the doctors categorically prescribed him a sparing regimen. Knowing that best friend will never be able to work at full capacity, Gates decided to call him for a conversation, as a result of which Allen was forced to leave the company, losing his shares to Bill, however, at a very favorable price.
Windows 95
After numerous delays and an unprecedented advertising hype for a software product, Windows 95 came out. Succumbing to the general hype, even people who do not have a computer are queuing for it. "Windows 95 is the most user-friendly version of Windows that doesn't require DOS to install!" Windows 95 has greatly improved the interface, has a built-in TCP/IP protocol suite, a Dial-Up Networking utility, and allows for long file names.
1996. January. 25 million copies of Windows 95 have been sold. 2 million users switch to this operating system every month.
1996. March 12. America Online and Microsoft enter into a strategic partnership agreement - AOL will integrate Microsoft Internet Explorer as the default Web browsing program for its 5 million users.
Windows NT 4.0
1996. July 31. Microsoft releases Windows NT 4.0, which is a significant improvement over version 3.51, with a Windows 95 user interface, enhanced features for working with hardware devices, and numerous built-in server processes, such as the Internet Information Server Web server. Initially, this Unix-replacing operating system had a small share of the US corporate market, but over time it will increase dramatically, and Windows NT is increasingly becoming the platform for intranets and public Internet sites.
1996. October. Microsoft is releasing OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) for Windows 95, which is intended for PC manufacturers installing the OS on new machines. It fixes bugs and improves many of the built-in functions and applets of the Windows 95 Control Panel. Several Windows 98 "news" appeared in OSR2, including the FAT32 file system, which provides more efficient use of hard disk space, and an improved Dial-Up Networking utility. . OSR2 included Internet Explorer 3.3, Microsoft's first successful browser. 1997. September 23. The first beta version of Windows NT 5.0 is presented at the Programmers' Conference. The fundamental new version will provide compatibility with the next generation of hardware, as well as enhanced management and data protection features. Release date - January 1997
Windows 98
1998. June 25. Following Windows 95, already recognized as the de facto standard for home users, breathing evenly down her neck and stepping on her heels, this year a new version of Windows loudly announced itself, which received the corresponding symbolic serial number - 98. The motto is “Works better . Plays better”, which Microsoft supplied it, directly indicated that the company, in its opinion, this time managed to achieve significant success, and the user with the help of its new product will be able to work better and play better too. It was the first Windows designed specifically for, so to speak, buyers or consumers. And, I must say that the success of this system is obvious and incredible to this day.
So. Let's go back to 1998. Internet Explorer is fully integrated into the system. Windows Explorer (Explorer) has undergone significant changes, and the integration of IE significantly "helped" him in this. The user now has the ability to manage resources and files in the same way as managing the transition between web pages in a browser (the Forward and Back buttons appeared on the toolbar). In addition, the list of available drives and folders is also displayed on the screen like a web page: general information about the drive or folder on the left, a list of drives or folders on the right. One click on the file is enough to launch the file, just like following a link on the Internet. In the help system, the content is also formatted - like the design of a web page. There is a quick launch bar (Quick Launch), which can be integrated with the start menu. In general, all these web special effects that the new OS has been stuffed with are familiar to you, so we mark Active Desktop as a plus, which adds more web identity to the system (at the request of the user) and move on past the interface.
The file system of hard drives was replaced with FAT32 (although it was implemented in Windows 95 OSR2, but there was no means to convert FAT16 to FAT32), which allowed organizing large partitions and provided more reliable and efficient data storage. And, of course, Microsoft has done a good job of making the operating system compatible with hardware, especially with peripherals - USB and FireWire (IEEE1394).
To the defragmenter and Scandisk supplied by default and updated in this version of the OS, a disk cleaning utility was added, with which the user could delete temporary files and files located in the Recycle Bin, and some other utilities appeared, such as a tool for searching the Web for updated system versions and fresh device drivers.
In 1998, Microsoft released Office 98 for Macintosh - as an extension of the previously released Office 97 package. Ironically, Mac users "sit" on Microsoft software.
November 22, 1998 Shane Brooks (Shane Brooks) wrote an installer with which users of Windows 98 could remove the integrated Internet Explorer from the system. What, in fact, proved the fact that Windows 98 can quite easily exist without Microsoft Internet Explorer. Up to this point, users of this OS had only the ability to install an alternative browser (Netscape Navigator, for example) in addition to IE and use it, rather than Microsoft's built-in tool for surfing the Web.
In 1998, having come a long way up the career ladder, Ballmer was appointed president of Microsoft.
Operating system Microsoft Windows 98 SE - 1999.
On May 5, 1999, the release of Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) was released, in which the errors of the previous version of the operating system were fixed, and users received more advanced system compatibility with hardware and new Internet capabilities. Windows 98 SE included Internet Explorer 5; Microsoft Windows NetMeeting 3.0 - a tool for audio and video conferencing on the Web; DirectX 6.1, loaded automatically; new feature Internet connection sharing (ICS - Internet Sharing), which allows you to use a computer running Windows 98 as a gateway to the Internet for other computers on the local network; and finally, improved media.
Windows 2000
On February 17, 2000, Windows 2000 was released, which was positioned as an upgrade that replaced Windows NT Workstation 4.0, but was already much more than just an improved reincarnation of the already well-known NT line system. In fact, Windows 2000 was created to replace Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on all business desktops and laptops.
As a desktop and server version of the OS, Windows 2000 was released in four different editions:
Professional - client version for desktop and laptop computers;
Server - for entry-level servers (entry level), a fairly reliable server platform for the most critical applications of e-commerce and doing business in a certain area or for intranet servers;
Advanced Server - for high performance applications and servers;
Data Center Server - for complex and high-performance cluster systems.
The Windows 2000 system interface strongly resembles that of Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 with Internet Explorer 4.0. But Internet Explorer 5 is integrated into this operating system.
For IT professionals, the Windows NT Server family has brought features such as centralized, policy-based management with new management technologies - Microsoft IntelliMirror management and the Microsoft Active Directory service. As part of its work on the Windows 2000 operating system, the company launched the Change and Configuration Management (CCM) initiative to reduce the cost of installing and maintaining desktop computers. For example, the IntelliMirror package includes a subset of technologies used in Windows 2000 that can be used to implement CCM.
Companies, convinced of the reliability and prospects of this system, are beginning to slowly migrate to Windows 2000.
Operating system Microsoft Windows Me - 2000
September 14, 2000 Windows Millennium Edition (ME) is released. An optional and overdue upgrade for Windows 98. Windows Me was positioned as a system for home users who are actually ready to upgrade from 98 to something newer and more advanced.
The system was stuffed with improved multimedia (the new media player supported more file types and interchangeable skins), games, more convenient processing of digital images, digital and analog video, digital music was implemented ...
Xbox
On November 14-15, 2001, the official launch of the Xbox took place. The first set-top boxes arrived in US stores on the evening of November 14th. Bill Gates personally took part in the official launch of the console, handing over the first copies of the Xbox to customers. The price of the console was only $299. Despite the fact that many still thought the console was ugly, the joystick was too big, and the price was too high, Microsoft managed to sell one million consoles in three weeks. It was an incredible result. An interesting fact is that the launch of the Nintendo GameCube (working title Dolphin) in the United States took place just three days later on November 18th. It was a real battle between Microsoft and Nintendo, dragging on for many years. It was the GameCube that became the main rival for the Xbox for the next three years, while the Playstation 2 remained in first place. Now there is approximately an equal volume of the Playstation 2 and Xbox, while the GameCube is noticeably inferior to them, the reason is that many people use the PS2 and Xbox as a DVD player, while the Nintendo console is not capable of playing DVD discs (Nintendophobia is known to everyone: the prefix The Nintendo 64 was still on cartridges, since counterfeiting them was not cost-effective, while the GameCube used special 1.5 GB discs, in both cases nothing good came of it).
Windows XP
Operating system Microsoft Windows XP - 2001
October 25, 2001 Windows XP is released. The most enchanting output of the system that you can imagine: a holiday, fireworks, firecrackers and all sorts of fun all over the States and Europe. When the release of Windows XP was celebrated with pomp, users around the world began to slowly figure out what, in fact, the new system is.
Two main versions - Professional Edition and Home Edition, designed for users with different goals and objectives.
The Professional edition is the base for three "secondary" editions - Media Center Edition, TabletPC Edition and Windows XP Embedded. Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment) is also based on the Windows XP kernel. B Windows XP Professional is the main programming code used in Windows 2000 and Windows NT Workstation. This code, called the NT kernel or the new Windows kernel, makes Windows XP more efficient, secure, and stable than Windows 9x/Me.
Windows XP Home Edition is designed for home users, provides faster and more convenient access to OS functions, and its external design greatly simplifies and at the same time makes it more efficient to perform typical tasks: working with digital images; work with music and video files - efficient search, download and storage; quick and easy organization of computer sharing and a lightweight approach to creating a home network; effective means communications for instant messaging, voice and video conferencing, and collaboration.
Court
In 2002, after nine U.S. states filed a lawsuit demanding that Microsoft release a simplified version of Windows without applications such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, Gates was forced to admit the possibility of releasing such a simplified version of the system. The corporation later faced similar demands outside of the United States. In 2004 European Commission imposed a fine of 497 million euros on Microsoft and demanded that the corporation release a version of Windows without a media player. In 2006, after an appeal filed by Microsoft, the antitrust process in Europe continued.
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 is released on April 24, 2003. The evolution of Windows server systems has so far stopped with Windows Server 2003, a system based on the principles of increased reliability, scalability and manageability. Windows Server 2003 is a high-performance infrastructure platform for supporting connected applications, networks, and XML Web services at scale from the workgroup to the data center.
It is a multitasking operating system capable of centrally or distributed management of various sets of roles, depending on the needs of users. Available: file server and print server; web server and web application server; mail server; terminal server; remote access server / virtual private network (VPN) server; Directory service, Domain Name System (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, and Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS); streaming media server.
Windows Server 2003 is available in four editions. The Standard Edition is the ideal choice for small businesses and individual departments within an organization. Supports file and printer sharing; provides a secure Internet connection; allows you to centralize the deployment of desktop applications.
Enterprise Edition - Designed to meet the general IT needs of businesses of all sizes. Designed for applications, web services and infrastructures and provides high reliability and performance. Supports up to eight processors; provides enterprise-level features such as eight-node clustering and support for up to 32 GB of memory; available for computers based on the Intel Itanium processor; will be available for 64-bit computing platforms capable of supporting eight processors and 64 GB of RAM.
Datacenter Edition - For mission-critical business applications and mission-critical applications that require high-level scalability and availability. The most powerful and functional server operating system ever offered by Microsoft; supports 32-thread SMP multiprocessing and up to 64 GB of RAM; provides eight-node clustering and load balancing services as standard features; will be available for 64-bit computing platforms capable of supporting 32 processors and 128 GB of RAM.
Web Edition is a new product in the Windows family of operating systems designed to be used as a web server. Designed for developing and hosting web applications, web pages and XML web services; designed to be used primarily as an IIS 6.0 web server; provides a framework for rapid development and deployment of XML Web Services that uses ASP .NET technology, which is a core part of the .NET Framework.
xbox 360
On May 19 at E3 2005 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) a new Microsoft Xbox-360 project was officially launched - the result of a three-year collaboration between several companies, including ATI.
The Xbox 360 is the seventh generation video game console from Microsoft. Developed in collaboration with IBM, ATI and SiS. Xbox Live! allows you to play online, download a variety of content such as demos, trailers, music, TV shows, etc. It is positioned as the main competitor of Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. There are three console options Core, Premium, Elite.
In 2005, Google came to the fore among Microsoft's competitors. The area of competition between the two giant firms was search engines on the Internet, and in addition, Google announced its intention to release programs that directly compete with the products of the Gates Corporation. As for Internet Explorer, the free Mozilla Firefox browser made serious competition, and in 2008 Google released its Chrome browser.
Zune
In September 2006, Microsoft officially introduced the Zune portable media player, developed in collaboration with Toshiba. According to Microsoft Vice President Jay Allard, Zune is not just a pocket player, but a complete entertainment platform for playing media files and sharing digital information. The device is equipped with a built-in wireless controller, thanks to which owners can connect with other similar players and send, for example, music or videos.
built-in HDD has a capacity of 30 GB. This volume, according to the developers, is enough to store about 7500 musical compositions, 25,000 photos or one hundred hours of video. The image on the three-inch display can be displayed in portrait and landscape orientations. In addition, the Zune has a built-in FM tuner.
Windows Vista
Operating system Microsoft Windows Vista - 2007
On November 30, 2006, Microsoft officially released Windows Vista and Office 2007 to corporate customers. On January 30, 2007, sales of the system for ordinary users began.
Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn) is an operating system in the Microsoft Windows NT family, a line of operating systems used on consumer personal computers. In the Windows NT product line, the new system is version number 6.0 (Windows 2000 - 5.0, Windows XP - 5.1, Windows Server 2003 - 5.2). The abbreviation "WinVI" is sometimes used to refer to "Windows Vista", which combines the name "Vista" and the version number written in Roman numerals. Windows Vista, like Windows XP, is exclusively a client system. Microsoft also released a server version of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008.
second generation Zune
In October 2007, Microsoft introduced the second generation Zune multimedia players with 4GB and 8GB flash memory, equipped with a 1.8-inch display, built-in FM tuner and Wi-Fi. In addition, a second-generation hard disk-based player was introduced. The new model has an 80 GB hard drive instead of last year's 30 GB hard drive. The player's screen has also been enlarged, and its thickness has become much smaller. All players will be released in black, green, pink and red, except for the last one, which will be available in black only. Devices of the second generation will have a new marking. For example, Zune 4 would mean a player with 4 GB of memory, Zune 8 with 8 GB, and so on.
A characteristic feature of the new devices is the so-called Zune Pad - a touch area under the screen, designed to control the device. According to Microsoft, the introduction of the Zune Pad was a carefully considered decision: the user can change tracks or adjust the volume blindly. The second generation of players will support modern H.264 and MPEG-4 video codecs, and the built-in Wi-Fi module will enable owners to synchronize images, audio and video files with a computer. Moreover, synchronization will be performed automatically as soon as the player reaches the transmitter's coverage area. Similar features are planned to be added to the new firmware for the first generation of players. It will still not be possible to download music wirelessly, as Apple proposes to do, but the ability to share files between devices will remain.
Bill leaving
In July 2008, Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft. Gates himself, who has long become a legend not only in the computer world, but also in the real world, no longer manages the company - he only creates the philosophy of the computer world.
Direct leadership is provided by Gates' longtime partner, Steve Ballmer.
September, 2008 Microsoft introduced BlueTrack technology and the first mice to use it. A feature of the new technology is the ability to accurately track mouse movements on any surface, from granite kitchen worktops to living room carpeting. This omnivorousness is provided by a new illumination source and an optical sensor, which are able to form an image of the surface with high contrast. The beam used in BlueTrack is four times larger than the beam used in today's mice.
Windows 7 (formerly known by the codenames Blackcomb and Vienna) is the name of the new operating system of the Windows family, the successor to Windows Vista, due out in late 2009.
Windows 7 should include some of the developments that were left out of Windows Vista, as well as innovations in the interface and built-in programs. Windows 7 should be a new step in the development of Microsoft operating systems.
The story continues...
Microsoft Corporation is one of the largest multinational corporations in the world. The company is among the leaders in the production of software for most types of computing equipment - PCs, game consoles, mobile phones, PDAs, etc.
Story
The founders of the company in 1975 were two friends, students Bill Gates and Paul Allen. They decided to start their own business after they read an article in Popular Electronics magazine about the Altair 8800 computer.
In 1975, Gates made a proposal to his partner to name the joint venture MICROcomputer SOFTware, which translates as "software for microcomputers."
In its first year, the company only made $16,000. In 25 years, Microsoft Corporation will have an annual turnover of $25.3 billion.
The union of the two friends did not last long. Already in the early 80s, relations between Gates and Allen deteriorated greatly. Allen did not want to spend all his time on a joint company, and Gates was completely absorbed in it. Constant conflicts between them led to the fact that Allen left the business in 1983, selling his stake at a price of $ 10 per share. This deal made him one of the richest people in the world. Paul Allen became the owner of a fortune of 13 billion dollars.
In the future, there were no "black" times in the fate of Microsoft Corporation. Within a few decades, the company has become a worldwide monopoly in PC software.
Fame and trust in products from Microsoft brought Windows operating systems. Millions of consumers from all over the world enjoy constant success with specialized software for working with text and spreadsheet formats of Microsoft Office documents.
The company produces many popular products. Among them it is worth mentioning: sets of server programs; tools for developing computer programs, games and game consoles XBOX.
On July 11, 2013, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer officially announced the reorganization of the company. From now on, 4 structures will be created within the company.
"Business is an exciting game in which maximum excitement is combined with a minimum of rules",- something like this Bill Gates spoke about what became his life's work. However, as we know, this is not just a business, but brilliant ideas that turned the IT world upside down and still have a huge impact on the most different areas our life.
- was born on October 28, 1955 in the family of lawyer William Gates and school teacher Mary Gates.
First, he studied at a public school, and then entered a private one - Lakeside School. It was there that at the age of 13, Bill first became interested in programming, and their friendship with Paul Allen played no less a role in his life: “I am obsessed with computers. I skipped exercise. I sat in the computer class until night. Programmed on weekends. Every week we spent twenty or thirty hours there. There was a period when we were banned from working because Paul Allen and I stole passwords and hacked into the system. I was left without a computer for the whole summer. Then I was fifteen or sixteen years old ... ". Worried about the harmful addiction of their son, the parents even sent the boy to a psychiatrist.
Much later in his public speeches, Gates admits: “Sometimes I envy those who program. After I stopped coding for Microsoft, I myself would often half-jokingly say in meetings, "Maybe I'll drop by this weekend and write this program myself." Now I don’t say that anymore, but I think about it all the time.”. In general, the result of the training was an almost complete indifference to the humanities in comparison with an ardent interest in the exact sciences.
After graduating from high school in 1973, Gates entered Harvard University. There, in a student dormitory, there was a fateful acquaintance with Steve Ballmer, with whom Gates developed the BASIC programming language. Subsequently, Ballmer took over as vice president of Microsoft.
However, after the second year, Gates was expelled from the university. However, studies at that time worried him less and less: he was captured by the idea of developing software for personal computers, in which unmistakably predicted the future. Later in his "Road of the Future" he will say: “One of the most important lessons taught by the computer industry is that for the user, the value of a computer is determined primarily by the quality and variety of existing programs.».
In 1975, Gates, together with Allen, created Micro-Soft, which later became known as Microsoft Corporation. Based on the desire to make the work on the PC as simple and user-friendly as possible, Bill Gates is gradually building the most influential corporation in the field of software, which has a developed network of branches around the world. To this end, he makes a number of strategic decisions, relies on innovative research and development, investing considerable funds in this area.
In 1983, Allen left the company, unable to find an understanding with Gates regarding the development strategy.
In 1985, the first version of Windows, 1.0, was released, which for many years became the most popular product on the operating system market. In the future, releases are released at intervals of 2-3 years, until another breakthrough was made in 1995: the system comes out with a radically updated interface, separate NT and server lines appear.
“They don’t switch to other versions just because of fixed bugs. It is absolutely true. The most idiotic idea I've ever heard of is to switch to new versions of software because of fixed bugs. When we make new versions, we add new features that people ask us for," Gates says.
Since 1995, developments for mobile devices have been introduced, which later grew into a product line called Windows Mobile. Every year, improving and releasing new versions of the product, Microsoft conquered an increasing part of the market, until in 2004 antitrust sanctions were applied to it for the first time. But to this day, Windows is used on 90% of personal computers.
In 1995, the famous book by Bill Gates called "The Road to the Future" was published.
In it, Gates sets out his views on the future development of society in an era information technologies:
I think interesting times are coming. Never before have there been so many opportunities to do what once seemed simply incredible. Now is the best time to open a new business, advance science (for example, medicine that improves the quality of life), and keep in touch with friends and family. It is very important to discuss both the good and bad sides of technological progress as widely as possible so that the whole society, and not just specialists, determines its direction.
We are forced to constantly improve our software products in order to keep up with the progress of hardware. Each successive version only wins acceptance from new users if it is accepted by regular customers... Only major advances can convince enough people that the improved versions are worth the cost.
The end for the market leader could come very quickly. When you suddenly get thrown out of a positive feedback loop, then it is often too late to change anything: all the charms of a negative spiral come into play. The most difficult thing, therefore, is to catch the first signs of a crisis and take action when things seem to be going great.
The book was published in more than 20 countries and entered the bestseller list. However, already in 1996, Gates made adjustments to it: the company made a powerful turn towards Internet technologies, and it was on interactive networks that the emphasis was placed in the second edition of The Road to the Future.
In 1999, a second book was published, entitled Business at the Speed of Thought, co-authored with Collins Hemmingway. Here, Gates expands on how information technology can impact a wide variety of business areas: “The most reliable way to distinguish your company from competitors, break away from the crowd of pursuers is to organize your work with information well”. Gates directs the proceeds from the sale of the book to a special fund, the purpose of which is to support the introduction of information technology in the educational process.
Gates is also interested in biotechnology, communications and all kinds of innovative developments in the field of IT. He regularly acquires companies and invests in projects in which he sees good prospects. One such project was, in particular, the launch of several hundred satellites into low Earth orbit in order to provide two-way broadband communications. And in 2008, he founded his third company, bgC3, which is engaged in research in the field of science and high technology.
In 1994, Gates married Melinda French, who works as a product manager for Microsoft. Bill and Melinda have three children - Jennifer Katarin, Rory John and Phoebe Adele. Together they organized the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 2005, Bill Gates was awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire - for his contribution to British enterprises and the solution of the problem of the poor around the world. In the same year, Time magazine named Bill and his wife the People of the Year.
In 2008, Bill Gates resigned from direct leadership of Microsoft, still remaining chairman of the Board of Directors and overseeing special projects. And in 2010, he also left the post of president of the corporation, handing over the reins to Steve Ballmer.
Passion for biotechnology and all kinds of electronic devices has also affected his life: with a rather modest design, the Gates house is literally crammed with all sorts of gadgets. At the same time, the life of the founder of Microsoft can be called ascetic, without any frills and hints of luxury. What in its own way makes Gates related to his eternal antagonist -.
On the ceiling of his library are quotes from The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's legendary book that captures a landmark era in American history. To some extent, the life credo of Gates himself intersects with the moral of the book: “Success is a bad teacher. He turns his head. He is unreliable. A business plan or a cutting-edge technology is the height of perfection today, tomorrow it may be as hopelessly outdated as eight-track tape recorders, vacuum tube televisions, or mainframes. I kept a close eye on how it happened. Long and careful observation of many companies helped to draw good lessons, taught how to plan for the years ahead..
Among the personal qualities and hobbies of Bill Gates, they note the love of reading, playing golf and bridge. He was repeatedly recognized as the richest man on the planet - from 1996 to 2007 and in 2009.. At that time, his fortune was estimated at $ 50 billion, according to the latest data, it decreased by $ 7 billion due to global financial crises.
The Microsoft founder is still one of the most generous philanthropists of our time. To date, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated about $28 billion to various education, health, and philanthropic initiatives.
And, of course, this person is still one of the most prominent figures in the field of IT and not only, rightfully called a "living legend" and a real icon for businessmen around the world. Every year, since 2009, he has delivered a message on behalf of his Foundation, touching on global topics for all of humanity: infant mortality, the fight against AIDS and polio, the economic crisis, agriculture, aid to third world countries, innovation and education.
There is also a movie about Gates called Pirates of Silicon Valley. It talks about the rise of the Bill Gates we all know. By the way, soon a small review of this film will be in my blog.
Good luck friends, keep up the good work!
