Technology news and Jobs arrow VIRTUALISATION arrow Gates chose the right time to leave Microsoft
Gates chose the right time to leave Microsoft E-mail
by Stan Beer   
Sunday, 29 June 2008
Regardless of what opinion one might hold of Bill Gates, there can be no denying that concerning IT he is a man with vision. Thus, it comes as no surprise that at just 52 he has cut the cord with his baby, Microsoft. Gates has known for a long time Microsoft is a company on the wane.

As a technology company Microsoft hit its peak in 1995. It was a pivotal year in which Gates realised his greatest dream and witnessed his biggest nightmare.

The release of Windows 95 finally saw Microsoft deliver a desktop operating system that could be used by ordinary workers without resorting to the command line. Apple had done that a decade earlier but decided its future was not software, so it was Gates not Jobs who put a computer on nearly every desktop in the developed world.

However, Gates, being a man of vision, knew that his dream of desktop world conquest would be relatively short lived. He witnessed with dismay how a young upstart company called Netscape demonstrated to the world that there were higher dimensions of computing called the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Gates knew how to crush the fledgling Netscape but he also knew that he could not crush the Internet. It was a new paradigm which would eventually make Microsoft's desktop technology obsolete.

I can remember reporting on a leaked internal memo that Bill Gates issued to Microsoft staff in 1995 which was a literal call to arms to fight both Netscape (not mentioned by name) and the onset of the Internet. It was obvious to Gates that the cards were on the table and the Internet was holding all the Aces. CONTINUED



 
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