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How Microsoft Has Changed Without Bill Gates

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the borg-icon-still-stands dept.

mightysquirrel writes "It's been a year since Bill Gates left Microsoft in his official capacity. At the time many speculated his departure would spark a significant shift in Redmond. But how much has really changed during Microsoft's first year without Gates?"

5 of 493 comments (clear)

  1. The biggest change... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Less Jews.

  2. Re:How soon we forget by Jamie's+Nightmare · · Score: -1, Troll

    I didn't. My first computer was a 8-bit machine.

    Yeah, no shit? Gee, so was mine. But the parent was suggesting that a majority of people, which excludes the likes of you and me, had their first computer experience using a PC. Just another self-centered prick, always wanting to stick his dick in the equation.

    --
    "When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving, kick him out of the door." - Xah Lee
  3. Gates left the party several years ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    by the time Balmer took the helm things had already started changing at MS. MS lost its pioneering spirit and started to look more and more like the other big IT firms -- including paying a dividend on its stock. All this has been going on for awhile now and has nothing to do with Gates' end date. MS lost the mantle of a disruptive (I mean that in a positive sense) force in the industry via its ability to innovate because, I think, like all of us it got older in all the ways that companies get old. [Note to MS: changing the interface on the latest version of Office is NOT innovation.] I'm MS-neutral and have been in the biz longer than MS has been around and can see the whole lifespan of the company. It seems to have joined the old ladies knitting club now...

  4. Re:How soon we forget by Chyeld · · Score: 1, Troll

    You can demonize Microsoft if you want to but the reason people think Microsoft did it first and did it best is because everyone else who faded into the history books of vague references and foot notes did so because they failed. They failed to market themselves, or they failed to meet volume, or they simply failed to find financial backing.

    Or Microsoft stole their code and released it as their own as part of an OS (Doublespace vs Stacker), or Microsoft coded their products specificly to refuse to work with them and then lied about it (any DOS product after the release of Win95 vs MS-DOS), or Microsoft bundled their competing version in the OS to ensure people would use it (Netscape vs IE)...

    The reason Microsoft took off was not because it was inovative, it was not because they saw what was 'good' and ran with it, it's because they had a leader who admired the tatics of the olden day Robber Barons and never let an opportunity to undercut, sabatoge, or otherwise play dirty pool go to waste.

    And yes, many companies also play fast and loose when it comes to ethics and business practices, and I don't look up to any of them or their leadership either.

  5. Re:How soon we forget by Bemopolis · · Score: -1, Troll

    As well, Microsoft shouldn't be forced to state they didn't invent the internet as it happens to be fairly obvious. In fact I've never met anyone who thought they did (insert Al Gore reference).

    So, Microsoft should not be forced to state that "they didn't invent the Internet" (which they neither said nor did), but you find it perfectly legitimate to imply that Al Gore HAS, thereby forcing others to state that "Al Gore didn't invent the Internet" (which he neither said nor did). He made a factual claim, backed up later by the support of statements by credible voices who DID "invent the Internet".

    For myself and all of the other people who have had to put up with this shit for almost ten years now, let me just invite you to Go Fuck Yourself.

    --
    "I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain