Bill Gates Rules Out a Full-time Return to Microsoft

[JMcEntegart]

Gates has shot down rumors that he plans to make a comeback at Microsoft.

Bill Gates Rules Out a Full-time Return to Microsoft : Read more

 

[Parsian]

he is operating in the background, very efficiently and with very little resource usage.

 

[house70]

Pretty much anyone would be better than Ballmer.

 

[arges86]

He was one of the original 'hackers'
Not a corporate person.
He helped make Microsoft great, and their products worthwhile.
If he returned, he could help get Microsoft back on top.

 

[NightLight]

he is a visionary. he has helped economy greatly. Ofcourse it would benifit the company, but the man has other interests, let him carry them out

 

[Guest]

Dont really see Bill having much of a impact. Microsoft lacks the hipster cult following from the youth that Apple or even starbucks have enjoyed.

 

[ta152h]

Comparing Bill Gates to Steve Jobs is a bad joke.

Bill Gates and Microsoft thrived because IBM chose them for their initial operating system. An operating system Bill Gates and Microsoft did not even write. After that, they used the monopoly to get into other businesses, often times illegally by using monopoly power. Without their monopoly leverage, Microsoft almost invariably fails. Anyone remember Microsoft Bob?

Not that Bill Gates is an idiot. He's a good business man, but a terrible visionary.

Steve Jobs did the opposite. He fought AGAINST the monopoly, created products that almost invariably succeeded, created markets, and did it all without any of the leverage Microsoft had.

Apple, incredibly, is worth more money than Microsoft, despite having none of the advantages Microsoft leveraged since 1981. And despite being in very bad shape in the 1990s. Does anyone doubt Steve Jobs is responsible for most of that? What product did Bill Gates create? What market did Microsoft create under his reign? Nothing.

He'd keep Microsoft profitable, but they already are. He's not a visionary. He's a good, if sometimes illegal business man. But, they're doing fine from that perspective.

 

[sl83r]

Yes gates needs to take the helm of Microsoft once again, Ballmer has done nothing but continuously run the company into the ground, not just financially(MS stock has been worth less ever since he took over) but also productwise(Vista, XBOX 360 RROD) all under Balllmers watch. Gates can and ould most definatly turn the company around.

 

[zorky9]

MS products (except W7) have pretty much been underwhelming the past 5 years. He'd for sure help push for better ideas from a somewhat uninspired company. But I guess we're not going to see that. He's going to remain in the background.
Either way, he's changing people's lives.

 

[Guest]

100% He is doing so much good for humanity in the Foundation. I really respect Bill Gates, he deserves it through and through.

 

[zorky9]

[citation][nom]ta152h[/nom]Steve Jobs did the opposite. He fought AGAINST the monopoly, ...[/citation]
I stopped there.

 

[brucen13]

All Microsoft needs to do to become better is dump Ballmer. Gates is doing fine on his own with his foundation.

 

[tical2399]

[citation][nom]ta152h[/nom]Comparing Bill Gates to Steve Jobs is a bad joke. Bill Gates and Microsoft thrived because IBM chose them for their intial operating system. An operating system Bill Gates and Microsoft did not even write. After that, they used the monopoly to get into other businesses, often times illegally by using monopoly power. Without their monopoly leverage, Microsoft almost invariably fails. Anyone remember Microsoft Bob? Not that Bill Gates is an idiot. He's a good business man, but a terrible visionary.Steve Jobs did the opposite. He fought AGAINST the monopoly, created products that almost invariably succeeded, created markets, and did it all without any of the leverage Microsoft had.Apple, incredibly, is worth more money than Microsoft, despite having none of the advantages Microsoft leveraged since 1981. And despite being in very bad shape in the 1990s. Does anyone doubt Steve Jobs is responsible for most of that? What product did Bill Gates create? What market did Microsoft create under his reign? Nothing. He'd keep Microsoft profitable, but they already are. He's not a visionary. He's a good, if sometimes illegal business man. But, they're doing fine from that perspective.[/citation]

Taking Unix and slapping your own coat of paint on it is not innovative or visionary. Taking mp3 players (which already existed) and slapping your own coat of paint on it is not innovative.

Taking smart phones with touch screens (which already existed, Ericson R380) and slapping your own coat of paint on it is not innovative. Taking tablets which have been around for years is not innovative. How is Jobs any different than how you painted Gates???????

 

[ta152h]

[citation][nom]zorky9[/nom]I stopped there.[/citation]

Are you 17? You realize that IBM and IBM compatibles were the monopoly, either running DOS or Windows later on. Apple was the one company that never copied them, or went into that market. They kept doing it their way.

That they succeeded and were successful in other markets shows how good Jobs was. But, in no case did they have a monopoly. They still don't. People like to whine, but having 40% of a market isn't a monopoly. There are a lot of Android phones and even tablets out there, and they sell well. Apple doesn't approach a monopoly in either of those categories. Now, Microsoft with Windows and Office, that's a lot higher a number. So is Intel with processors. So, outside of personal hostility to Apple, why would anyone say they have a monopoly when it's painfully obvious that people can buy any number of attractive alternatives? Is it just irritating that people want their products, even though you think they shouldn't. That's not a monopoly, that's a personal problem.

 

[silentbobdc]

[citation][nom]ta152h[/nom]Comparing Bill Gates to Steve Jobs is a bad joke. [/citation]

I agree, Bill Gates has done a ton of good with the money he's made... donated billions to charity, Steve Jobs.... not so much. Also he designed products with function ahead of style, not the other way around.

[citation][nom]ta152h[/nom]Steve Jobs did the opposite. He fought AGAINST the monopoly [/citation]

This is the same Steve Jobs who started the worldwide onslaught of lawsuits and has tried to gain a legislated monopoly on tablet sales using dubious patents and photoshopped evidence. Please pull you head our of your A$$ before you type cause the gibberish you just entered makes no sense.

 

[madooo12]

[citation][nom]moricon[/nom]100% He is doing so much good for humanity in the Foundation. I really respect Bill Gates, he deserves it through and through.[/citation]
yes he's better than jobs, the cheapest person ever

 

[ta152h]

[citation][nom]tical2399[/nom]Taking Unix and slapping your own coat of paint on it is not innovative or visionary. Taking mp3 players (which already existed) and slapping your own coat of paint on it is not innovative.Taking smart phones with touch screens (which already existed, Ericson R380) and slapping your own coat of paint on it is not innovative. Taking tablets which have been around for years is not innovative. How is Jobs any different than how you painted Gates???????[/citation]

Because you're completely oversimplifying everything, and missing what's important. Not because you believe it, but because you're trying to change reality to meet what you want.

Gates never created a market. Jobs brought GUIs to the market (yes, they didn't invent them, but they made them relevant). He brought the mouse. He created the tablet market. Tablets existed before, but no one wanted them. iPod was a big success. iPhone changed the market almost overnight.

These were all markets that Steve Jobs created, or transformed. He created products that worked the way people wanted them to. That created excitement. That created whole new industries.

Don't get me wrong, I don't buy Apple stuff, and I had the displeasure of using a Mac about a week ago, and was disgusted by it. Almost as much as I was disgusted by having to use Windows years ago after using OS/2.

By the way, the Mac OS was not always based on Unix.

But, the reality is, Microsoft never created a market. Operating Systems? Guess not. GUI? Ummm, nope. Office software? Hmmmm, late to that party. Browsers? Nope, again. Wait, game consoles! Ummm, damn, no again. What market did Microsoft create? NOTHING. They used monopoly power to destroy the office market, other operating systems, and even browsers for a while. They destroy, not create.

You really can't see any difference? You can, you just don't want to.

 

[Guest]

Wow; people seem to have totally forgotten that when apple was on the verge of death, it was bill gates that saved Steve Jobs and his company: http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/08/dayintech_0806/. Not only did Bill Gates decide to save Apple by investing a huge amount of money into the company, but it also decided to help it by releasing MS Office for the Macintosh. Steve Jobs says at the time, "microsoft is going to be part of the game for us, as we recover the company".

 

[madooo12]

[citation][nom]silentbobdc[/nom]I agree, Bill Gates has done a ton of good with the money he's made... donated billions to charity, Steve Jobs.... not so much. Also he designed products with function ahead of style, not the other way around. This is the same Steve Jobs who started the worldwide onslaught of lawsuits and has tried to gain a legislated monopoly on tablet sales using dubious patents and photoshopped evidence. Please pull you head our of your A$$ before you type cause the gibberish you just entered makes no sense.[/citation]
don't forget he wanted to spend each penny of apple's billions to destroy android

 

[madooo12]

another thing, bill gates always had nice things to say about steve but steve had the opposite, he called him unimaginative and stuff like that i don't remember

 

[ta152h]

[citation][nom]silentbobdc[/nom]I agree, Bill Gates has done a ton of good with the money he's made... donated billions to charity, Steve Jobs.... not so much. Also he designed products with function ahead of style, not the other way around. This is the same Steve Jobs who started the worldwide onslaught of lawsuits and has tried to gain a legislated monopoly on tablet sales using dubious patents and photoshopped evidence. Please pull you head our of your A$$ before you type cause the gibberish you just entered makes no sense.[/citation]

Wow, where do idiots like you come from? Are you implying that Microsoft never sued anyone for patents? What?????

Do you even know what Microsoft did? Did you know they would charge PC makers license fees for every PC they sold, whether it had Windows or not? So, let's say you sold a PC with OS/2. You'd have to pay for the Windows license, and the OS/2 license, even if you didn't ever have Windows on that machine.

So, not only did the sue early and often, they used illegal tactics, proven in court, to stop competitors. They did everything they could to kill competition, not only legally, but illegally!

So please, stop talking about things you don't know anything about. You're just embarrassing yourself.

Also, keep it in context. We're talking about guys leading a company, not what they do in their personal life. I'm pretty sure Bill Gates would be a really good guy to meet, but, he wasn't the business leader Steve Jobs was.

 

[ta152h]

[citation][nom]madooo12[/nom]another thing, bill gates always had nice things to say about steve but steve had the opposite, he called him unimaginative and stuff like that i don't remember[/citation]

Bill Gates seems like a great guy. He was a brutal business man, but, who can blame him for that? That's his job as a CEO.

But, we're talking about leading a company. Steve Jobs was FAR more successful, with much less to work with, other than his own incredible talent.

 

[lathe26]

As a former microsoft employees it really seems like Bill Gates was an absentee landlord during his last few years Microsoft. During my 11 years microsoft he had 0 impact on any projects or producted I worked on.

The leaders have little control about what's going on. The inmates are running the asylum (i.e. the middle managers) based on politics rather than being based on the product/customer/profit. It is sad to see so much potential being wasted.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Too bad... but if that's what he wants to do, let it be so - he deserves a lot.

Not that Bill Gates is an idiot. He's a good business man, but a terrible visionary.

Steve Jobs did the opposite. He fought AGAINST the monopoly, created products that almost invariably succeeded, created markets, and did it all without any of the leverage Microsoft had.

I don't want a """""visionary""""". I don't need these "new markets" - cloud, tablets and so on. I want a bigger, faster PC with more responsive WINDOWS on it, FFS. And Microsoft will deliver here. And Apple IS the biggest monopoly, but it's going DOWN - sooner or later people will either become smarter or another company will sell them dumb $h!t because Samsung is wiping out iPhones everywhere...

But, the reality is, Microsoft never created a market. Operating Systems? Guess not. GUI? Ummm, nope. Office software? Hmmmm, late to that party. Browsers? Nope, again. Wait, game consoles! Ummm, damn, no again. What market did Microsoft create? NOTHING. They used monopoly power to destroy the office market, other operating systems, and even browsers for a while. They destroy, not create.

I soooooo don't care about any MS product apart from Windows... best OS in the world for home power user, period. I don't care what MS invented or didn't, they overpowered everyone - I don't care how, there's no better product.

iPod was a big success.

Idiocy of people who didn't buy an mp3 player before an iPod. I did, still kicks ass.

BTW, does anyone know that Gates proposed/donated a lot of money for some shady project that is supposed to restrict overpopulation in Africa? People flame him for "forcing" this on Africans, but I applaud him. This planet is overloaded; overpopulation is something to look into. It takes someone with a lot of money to change things; I believe that Gates' foundation can do just that.

 

[brucen13]

[citation][nom]ta152h[/nom]These were all markets that Steve Jobs created, or transformed. He created products that worked the way people wanted them to. That created excitement. That created whole new industries.[/citation]

More so to your point, that is the work of a expert marketer and not a visionary. The visionaries were at Stanford Research Institute and Xerox PARC, which provided the revolutionary products Apple used as a foothold to establish themselves. Steve was good at knowing how to best package and present the technology in a way the public could understand and consume. He was an expert marketer and salesman, not a visionary.

As for stopping the monopoly.... what a farce! Apple sued Microsoft over the GUI, something Apple never invented. Steve had a long history for protecting things that he never invented, but was top-notch at selling and claiming belonged to Apple.