The Best of Bill Gates' Reddit AMA

[JMcEntegart]

Bill Gates revealed that he will be spending one third of his time at Microsoft, and he will be focusing on product while he is there.

The Best of Bill Gates' Reddit AMA : Read more

 

[outlw6669]

Like any corporate communication it is quite light on details.
Still, it is great PR.

 

[eriko]

Like any corporate communication it is quite light on details.Still, it is great PR.

Yep - nothing for me there either.Nothing on the sea of complaints regarding Win 8, and its forced use / running of Metro. Why am I not surprised?If they thought Desktops were going away, we wouldn't be forced to run Metro at every boot. They know it is a significant market, and they want the prospect of getting up to pay them for their apps. No thankyou.

 

[damianrobertjones]

"I am using a Surface 2 PRO which works well for me."Nice machine.SHOCK! MS want us to pay for apps and people don't... hang on... how do they use their Apple or Google tablet? Oh yeah they pay for apps.

 

[heero yuy]

"is the desktop computer really dead?"
I'M SORRY BUT I CANNOT HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY DESKTOP COMPUTERS! (no really these fans are bloody loud D: )

 

[irish_adam]

"I am using a Surface 2 PRO which works well for me."Nice machine.SHOCK! MS want us to pay for apps and people don't... hang on... how do they use their Apple or Google tablet? Oh yeah they pay for apps.

except that i have an android tablet and i have yet to actually pay for an app, you can get a free app to do basicly anything you need. That being said i would love an x86 tablet if i had that kind of cash to splash but i hate the idea of apps on it, i would want full programs just like i run on my desktop (otherwise wants the point in paying a premium price for x86)

 

[back_by_demand]

"I am using a Surface 2 PRO which works well for me."Nice machine.SHOCK! MS want us to pay for apps and people don't... hang on... how do they use their Apple or Google tablet? Oh yeah they pay for apps.

All tablets and desktop PC as well have free apps and programs, all also have pay for software. Tryingt to box in one versus another for free apps vs pay apps is a bit narrow minded. I have an Android tablet, a Windows PC, a Mac and a Windows Phone. I have only ever paid for software on the PC and Mac, and they were unavoidable. The Surface Pro is likely to continue to get thinner, lighter and more powerful as time goes on and I can see desktop PCs being replaced with docking stations very soon.

 

[Duckhunt]

deep learning? Hopefully they can make the desktop more relevant by making it more energy efficient. We don't have the handicap of mobility. I want the heat sinks on the motherboards be fused onto the case of desktop pcs. This cooling effect through out the motherboard means we can drive it harder. I hope the motherboard manufacturers are listening. Use the surface area of the desktops to reduce heat. The case alone is a gigantic possible heat sink. For the love of god. Do this and we will leave the laptops in the dust. I am so disappointed that I have to write this. geez. Wake up.

 

[Soda-88]

L...the sea of complaints regarding Win 8, and its forced use / running of Metro.

Had 8/8,1 installed since release, can't quite recall the last time I've seen this Metro you're talking about.

 

[alextheblue]

"is the desktop computer really dead?"I'M SORRY BUT I CANNOT HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY DESKTOP COMPUTERS! (no really these fans are bloody loud D: )

Don't worry, there's plenty of good quiet fans out there waiting for you to order them. I myself prefer Noctua, but they are a bit pricey. 😛

I want the heat sinks on the motherboards be fused onto the case of desktop pcs. This cooling effect through out the motherboard means we can drive it harder. I hope the motherboard manufacturers are listening. Use the surface area of the desktops to reduce heat. The case alone is a gigantic possible heat sink. For the love of god. Do this and we will leave the laptops in the dust. I am so disappointed that I have to write this. geez. Wake up.

Well, aluminum cases can reduce heat, but not in the manner or extent that you've suggested. We already have superior cooling to laptops, but it only gets you so far without resorting to expensive solutions. To reach higher speeds you have to bump the voltage, which causes power and heat to spiral up. After a while you start to suffer seriously diminishing returns. Plus, it's not enough to just conduct the heat into a metal 'sink. You have to transfer that heat out of the metal - the best way to do this is with lots of fast moving air. So it makes more sense to concentrate your heat into higher-efficiency heatsink with copper heatpipes, or a waterblock.

Speaking of which, if you really want to improve cooling, there's always watercooling and other more exotic setups. So yeah, cooling is there if you want it... and it doesn't involve attempting to directly channel a processor's heat to the chassis at high cost and dubious benefit. I think the engineers involved in such things all over the planet have things pretty well in hand.

 

[amigafan]

I have a feeling Bill will do absolutely nothing meaningful in the Microsoft. He is just there as a morale boosting statue for others. He also doesn't seem very interested, it's more of a nuisance to him. He'd rather do his charity "work". I wouldn't be surprised if he knit some socks while in the Microsoft.

 

[Duckhunt]

I have a feeling Bill will do absolutely nothing meaningful in the Microsoft. He is just there as a morale boosting statue for others. He also doesn't seem very interested, it's more of a nuisance to him. He'd rather do his charity "work". I wouldn't be surprised if he knit some socks while in the Microsoft.

I hate to say this. After using windows 8 lately. I hate it so much. It is such an ugly desktop. Anyone but a fool can not see that aero windows 7 is much more beautiful. Windows 8 is one ugly eyesore. I think the pundits for windows 8 must be paid, mean or stupid. No way anyone can call it beautiful. It is ugly.

The only reason for folk to go to windows 8, is it is cheaper then windows 7. If they made windows 7 cost the same as windows 8. Windows 8 would be finished.

 

[FrankDCosta]

The future looks exciting. It will be interesting to see where Nadella steers the company. He has some pretty big shoes to fill. Bill, thanks for all the awesomeness over the years. Since time immemorial Windows has been the default OS I have been seeing and MS Office is what is used the world over. Thanks for everything.

 

[hantorso]

I love that he uses a Surface Pro 2. Of course, he sort of has to, but it's like finding out that the CEO of McDonalds eats all of his meals there.

 

[stevejnb]

Eh, the Surface Pro line is pretty darned easy to use for anything shy of high end gaming, graphic rendering, and compiling. Far better for doing actual work than competing tablet types, spoken as someone who took notes and wrote papers on Android and iOS devices for almost three years.

Shocked the heck out of a woman at a print shop recently when we needed to make a change to the document I wanted printed and, after she saw I was using a tablet, she was getting ready to e-mail back and forth - and I just plugged a flash drive into the tablet's USB port. Seriously, how is a USB port not a standard feature on tablets in this day and age? Is the intent to keep them toys focused on media consumption, shoveling money into the parent company's pocket, rather than devices that can sub in for your main computer in a pinch? Or heck, replace it, as many could do in the case of a full Windows 8 tablet?