Know About
Bill Gates
Know About
Bill Gates
Know about Bill Gates ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronics, mechanical, photocopying, recording and or without permission of the publisher. Published by
maple press
MAPLE PRESS PRIVATE LIMITED office: A-63, Sector 58, Noida 201301, U.P., India phone: +91 120 455 3581, 455 3583 email:
[email protected] website: www.maplepress.co.in Reprinted in 2019 ISBN: 978-93-50335-77-2
Contents Preface ............................................................................... 4 1. Family Background .................................................... 6 2. The Lakeside Programmers Group .......................... 9 3. Formation of Traf-O-Data Company .................... 12 4. Leaving Harvard for Business ................................. 15 5. Story of Microsoft..................................................... 18 6. His Inner Self ............................................................ 21 7. Microsoft Windows.................................................. 25 8. Windows 3.0 ............................................................. 29 9. Microsoft vs. IBM ..................................................... 32 10. Development of Windows 3.1 and NT .................. 35 11. Limitations of Windows NT .................................. 39 12. Release of Windows 95 ............................................ 42 13. NT 4.0 Windows 98 and Beyond ........................... 45 14. Internet Explorer ...................................................... 49 15. Increase in Internet Technologies .......................... 52 16. Increase in Safety Bugs ............................................ 55 17. Integrated Functionality .......................................... 58 18. Introduction of New Features................................. 61 19. The Internet Time ................................................... 65 20. The Feature- rich Internet Explorer ....................... 68 21. Business @ the Speed of Thought (Chapter 1-5) ..... 71 22. Business @ the Speed of Thought (Chapter 6-10) ... 76 23. Business @ the Speed of Thought (Chapter 11-15) . 80 24. Business @ the Speed of Thought (Chapter 16-23) . 84
Preface William (Bill) H. Gates is the Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet Technologies for individual and organizational computing. Microsoft had revenue of US$ 89.95 billion for the year 2017 and more than 120849 people employed in 85 countries and regions around the world. Under Gates’ leadership, Microsoft’s mission has been to constantly innovate and come up with new software products to make it easier for its customers to achieve best results in a costeffective manner and to create a user friendly technological platform for the customers. The company is committed to a long-term view, which is reflected in its investment of more than $13,037 million on research and development in the current fiscal year.
This book unfolds the vitality of Bill Gates’ life and furnishes an insight into the personality and achievements of Bill Gates who started Microsoft with a vision of ‘A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer.’
CHAPTER 1
Family Background
On October 28, 1955, shortly after 9:00 p.m., William Henry Gates III was born. He was born in a family with a rich history in business, politics and community service. Everyone in his family had an intellectual background. His great grandfather had been a State Legislator and Mayor, his grandfather was the Vice President of a National Bank and his father was a prominent Lawyer. His mother, Mary Gates, was a school
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teacher, a university of Washington regent and a chairwoman of United Way International. From the very beginning of his life, Bill Gates inherited the ambition; intelligence and competitive spirit that had helped his ancestors rise to the top in their chosen professions. During his basic education, he excelled in nearly all subjects, particularly math and science and performed better than all his classmates. As a child, Bill enjoyed rocking back and forth; even today he has this habit of rocking when he is engrossed in thinking about something. When his parents saw his excellence, they resolved to enroll him in Lakeside. It was a private school famous for its strict and excellent academic environment. But, his parents were not perhaps aware that this decision would have far reaching effects on the life of Bill Gates. This is because, at Lakeside, Bill Gates was first introduced to computers. Introduction to Computers It was the spring of 1968, when the Lakeside Prep School made a decision that the students
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Know About Bill Gates
of the school should be acquainted with the concept of computers. But, it was very difficult for the school to bear the cost of the computers. Therefore, the school started a fundraiser and bought a computer owned by General Electric for restricted time period. A few thousand dollars were raised, which the school figured would buy more than enough periods time to last into the next school year. But, the school authorities had underestimated the charm this machine would have on young students. Bill Gates, Paul Allen and a few other students of Lakeside (many of whom were appointed as the first programmers at Microsoft) became interested in the world of computers. They made it a habit to stay in the computer room worked all day and night. They would write computer programs, read computer literature and would do anything to learn about computing. Soon they started skipping the other subjects’ classes to be in computer room and ended up using all of the school’s computer time in just a few weeks.
CHAPTER 2
The Lakeside Programmers Group
In the fall of 1968, Computer Centre Corporation opened for business in Seattle and it was offering computing time at good rates. One of the Chief Programmers working for the Corporation had a child attending Lakeside and soon a deal was struck between Lakeside Prep School and the Computer Centre Corporation
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Know About Bill Gates
that allowed the school to continue providing its students with computer time. Gates and his comrades immediately began exploring the contents of this new machine. It was not long before the young hackers started causing problems. They caused the system to crash several times and broke the computers security system. They even altered the files that recorded the amount of computer time they were using. They were caught and the Computer Centre Corporation banned them from the system for several weeks. Bill Gates, Paul Allen and two other hackers from Lakeside formed the Lakeside Programmers Group in late 1968. They were determined to find a way to apply their computer skills in the real world. The first opportunity to do this was a direct result of their mischievous activity with the school’s computer time. The Computer Centre Corporation’s business was beginning to suffer due to the systems weak security and the frequency that it crashed. Impressed with Gates and the other Lakeside
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computer addicts’ previous assaults on their computer, the Computer Centre Corporation decided to hire the students to find bugs and expose weaknesses in the computer system. In return for the Lakeside Programming Group’s help, the Computer Centre Corporation would give them unlimited computer time. The boys could not refuse. Gates quoted this as, “It was when we got free time at C-cubed (Computer Centre Corporation) that we really got into computers. I mean, then I became hardcore. It was day and night.” Although the group was hired just to find bugs, they also read many computer related material that the day shift had left behind. The young hackers would even pick employees for new information. It was here that Gates and Allen really began to develop the talents that would lead to the formation of Microsoft seven years later.
CHAPTER 3
Formation of Traf-O-Data Company
Computer Centre Corporation began to experience financial problems in late 1969. The company finally went out of business in March of 1970. The Lakeside Programmers Group had to find a new way to get computer time. Eventually, they found a few computers on the University of Washington’s campus, where Allen’s dad worked. The Lakeside Programmers
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Group began searching for new chances to apply their computer skills. Their first opportunity came early next year, when Information Sciences Inc., hired them to program a Payroll Software. Once again, the group was given free computer time and for the first time, a source of income. ISI had agreed to give them royalties whenever it made money from any of the software developed by this group. As a result of the business deal signed with Information Sciences Inc., the group also had to become a legal business partners. Gates’ and Allen’s next project involved starting another company entirely on their own and they called it ‘Traf-OData’. They produced a small computer, which was used to help measure traffic flow. From the project they grossed around US $320,000. The Traf-O-Data Company lasted until Gates left for college. Bill also wrote a Schedule Program for his school, which he modified a bit to put himself in a class full of prettiest girls in the school. Bill was deemed by his peers and his teachers as the
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Know About Bill Gates
smartest kid on the campus. During Bill Gates’ junior year at Lakeside, the administration offered him a job of computerizing the school’s scheduling system. Gates asked Allen to help with the project. He agreed and the following summer, they wrote the program. In senior year, Gates and Allen continued looking for opportunities to use their skills and make some money. It was not long until they found this opportunity. The Defence Contractor TRW was having trouble with a bug-infested computer, similar to the one at Computer Centre Corporation. TRW had learned of Gates and Allen through Computer Centre Corporation’s system and offered jobs to both. However, things were different at TRW as they would not be finding the bugs rather they would be in charge of fixing them. It was at TRW that Gates began to develop as a serious programmer and it was there that Allen and Gates first started talking seriously about forming their own software company.
CHAPTER 4
Leaving Harvard for Business
Upon graduating from Lakeside, Bill enrolled in Harvard University in 1973, one of the best universities in the country. Bill was bored here, so he spent most of his time programming, playing poker and seeing how little work he could do and still get A’s. He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard’s toughest math courses.
Know About
Bill Gates
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