Перевод текста: Bill Gates - Билл Гейтс (1). Билл Гейтс: цитаты, высказывания на английском с переводом Билл гейтс биография кратко на английском языке

Сочинение на английском языке Биография Билла Гейтса/ The Biography of Bill Gates с переводом на русский язык

Перевод на русский язык. Биография Билла Гейтса
Не существует в мире человека, который не знал бы Билла Гейтса. Он является основателем и одним из руководителей корпорации Microsoft. Он также является американским бизнес магнатом, который считается одним из богатейших людей на планете. Билл Гейтс родился 28 октября 1955 года в Сиэтле, штат Вашингтон. Его полное имя Уильям Генри Гейтс III. В течение нескольких лет он работал в качестве исполнительного директора Microsoft, но позже он стал председателем компании. Помимо того, что он один из самых богатых и известных людей в мире, Билл Гейтс также написал несколько интересных книг и в настоящее время он много работает на Фонд Билла и Мелинды Гейтс, специализирующийся на благотворительных пожертвованиях. В 2010 году он даже предложил миллиардерам передать половину своего состояния на благотворительность. Билл Гейтс родом из очень интеллигентной семьи. Он учился в самой привилегированной школе в Сиэтле, где он развивал свои навыки программирования на школьном компьютере. В 1973 году он поступил в Гарвардский университет, но был исключен после двух лет, и сразу, же начал работать над разработкой программного обеспечения. А в 1975 году Гейтс совместно с Полом Алленом основали компанию Micro-Soft, которая была позже названа Microsoft Corporation. Его программное обеспечение в буквальном смысле изменило мир. В настоящее время почти все используют программное обеспечение Microsoft на ежедневной основе.

Topic: Bill Gates

Тема: Билл Гейтс

There are no such people, who use computers and have not heard of Microsoft. The word “Windows” has become a prototype of computer software and is an international word understandable for everyone. Nowadays we use a variety of computer software never thinking of who created it. But there are numerous programmers, who spend their lives in front of the screens in order to produce a useful and popular software program. Bill Gates used to be one of such ordinary programmers, though in modern world his name is associated with incredible wealth and expensive purchases. Little do people know who he is and how he has earned his money, but his presence in the Forbes list results in rumors and gossips about his life.

Не существует таких людей, которые использует компьютеры и не слышал о корпорации Майкрософт. Слово "Виндоуз" стало прототипом программного обеспечения и международным словом понятным для всех. В настоящее время мы используем различное компьютерное программное обеспечение, никогда не думая о том, кто его создал. Но есть многочисленные программисты, которые проводят свою жизнь перед экранами для того, чтобы создавать полезное и популярное программное обеспечение. Билл Гейтс ранее был одним из таких обычных программистов, хотя в современном мире его имя ассоциируется с невероятным богатством и дорогими покупками. Мало, кто знает, кто он и как он заработал свои деньги, но его присутствие в списке Форбс создает множество слухов и сплетен о его жизни.

William Henry "Bill" Gates III is his full name, but it does not give a full understanding of who he is. Bill is a person of great intelligence and known to the world as a business magnate, a programmer, an inventor and an investor. Being a founder of a well-known Microsoft company he is the richest man of the world, though a father of three children and a philanthropist.

Уильям Генри "Билл" Гейтс III - это его полное имя, но оно не дает полного понимания того, кто он есть. Он человек большого ума и известен в мире как бизнес-магнат, программист, изобретатель и инвестор. Будучи основателем известной компании Майкрософт он самый богатый человек в мире, хотя является отцом троих детей и филантропом.

He was born in Washington and his parents earned their living as a prominent lawyer and a director of a bank system. His grandfather used to be a national bank president. He was the fourth child and it was meant for him to become a lawyer. He visited the Lakeside School, where at the eighth grade he took interest in programming and created his first program – a game “Tic-tac-toe” against the computer. He became one of four students finding bugs in one computer corporation and wrote a computer program of the school schedule. After the graduation from the school he easily entered Harvard College and invented a solution the record of which could not be beaten for more than 30 years. He invented his company together with Paul Allen dropping out the university. They cheated a famous company MITS so that to attract its interest and managed to hold it creating the first minicomputer and later their partnership called “Micro-Soft”. They were first to take payment for their development of software and personally reviewed all the products of their company. They also have written the BASIC interpreter for the first IBM personal computer and were the developers of the most widely spread operating system under the title Microsoft Windows. Since that time he has become a President of the company and also the Chairman of the Board.

Он родился в Вашингтоне в семье известного адвоката и директора банковской системы. Его дед, был президентом государственного банка. Он был четвертым ребенком, и ему была выбрана профессия адвоката. Он ходил в школу Лейксайд, где в восьмом классе он заинтересовался программированием и создал свою первую программу - игру "Крестики-нолики" против компьютера. Он стал одним из четырех студентов, которые нашли ошибки в одной компьютерной компании, и написал компьютерную программу с графиком школы. После окончания школы он поступил в Гарвардский университет и нашел такое решение, которое нельзя было опередить в течение более чем 30 лет. Он основал свою компанию вместе с Полом Алленом, бросив университет. Они обманули знаменитую компанию МИТС с целью привлечения ее интереса, и им удалось удержать его, создав первый миникомпьютер, а потом и их компанию под названием "Майкро-Софт". Они были первыми, кто брал оплату за разработку программного обеспечения и лично пересматривали все продукты своей компании. Они также написали BASIC интерпретатор для первого персонального компьютера IBM и были разработчиками самой широко распространенной операционной системы под названием Microsoft Windows. С этого времени он стал президентом компании и председателем совета.

What kind of person could reach such a success? Bill is regarded to be a smart and intelligent person with an incomparable sense of humor. He is always ready for any kind of job for his business to flourish. Apart from managing and programming he also appeared in several commercials, runs a charitable foundation, wrote two books and started several companies dealing with the nuclear reactor, social networking and investment. He pays little attention to his family being busy at work. His wife, Melinda, hooked this one of the most eligible bachelors in 1994 and the couple gave birth to three children. They live in a luxurious house overlooking a lake and have a lot of property including houses, gyms, a collection of writings and many other valuable things. His life is built according to eleven rules of being a successful person and he shared these rules with high school students.

Bill Gates Essay, Research Paper

Bill Gates:A Cultural Icon What is Windows? What is Microsoft Word? What is Excel 1.0? These are all product of Microsoft. What is Microsoft? It is a 18 billion dollar computer program corporation that Bill Gates is running. He strives for what he believes in, which is doing the best he can for the computer world. He also never gave up at things even though they did not work out right away. Bill Gates started his journey when he was young. Know he is seeking to improve the future. Bill Gates is a major cultural icon that is trying to help us out with the visions of computers. CHAPTER 1-The Past William Henry Gates III was born October 28, 1955, with his family in Seattle, Washington. He was the middle child and his father, a lawyer and his mother, a teacher. Bill was sent to Lakeside School, an all boys prep school. Lakeside is where Gates taught himself to hack his way into a minicomputer program. Hacking is basically decoding how the computer works. This is also where he made his first software program when he was thirteen, a tic-tac-toe game. In order to play the game Gates and other class mates had to flip switches and then had to wait, for a long time, for the reply to come out. Paul Allen, a classmate of Gates, helped Gates create Swanson 2Microsoft. Gates, Allen and a group of friends were offered to create a program for payroll services (Gross 337). Gates also formed a pint-sized company, Traf-O-Data, that studied traffic patterns for small towns near Seattle. Gates was 19 when he graduated from school then he moved on to Harvard. Gates spent most of his time hacking at the computer lab. He also did not attend many of his classes. Allen and Gates worked on making a BASIC program for a minicomputer. BASIC is a language a computer uses to run its system. That program was used in computers now. This kept the men writing their programs. In 1975 the two founded what was then, Micro-soft (Gross 339). Gates did all of this before the young age of twenty-one. After they founded Microsoft, Gates move out to Albuquerque by Paul Allen. Tandy, a big computer company, came out with a computer that had the first display terminal and keyboard. Tandy bought the rights to Microsoft’s BASIC program. Microsoft’s sales went up around 1.5 million dollars a year after signing the rights to Tandy. Microsoft made a move up north, back to Washington. IBM soon became interested in Microsoft and signed them to an agreement, even though Gates was not as professional looking as others. At first Gates declined and told IBM to go to Digital Research. IBM did not like the way Digital Research worked so they offered the Swanson 3job to Gates again. He did not refuse the opportunity twice (Economist S5). About a year after being with IBM, Microsoft came up with the program MS-DOS. This program was in eighty percent of PC, Personal Computers, sold (Gross 344). It was standard program in computers. With the new program raking in a lot of money, Microsoft gained eighty-one million dollars in three years. In 1983 Allen had to leave the company because he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. Even though the company was selling $200 million of products a year, Gates did not get overwhelmed by the money. He would eat fast food and travel coach class just like everyone else (Gross 346). He is also the type of man that isn’t going to explain everything twice says employee of Microsoft (Sherman 86).”Gates is a remarkable piece of software in his own right. He is childishly awkward at times, throws things when angry, and fidgets uncontrollably when he speaks. But he is extraordinary intelligent master programmer steeped in technical knowledge about his complicated business. At the same time, he is monstrously competitive.”(Sherman 82) In 1985 Gates made a program to better the Lotus program 1-2-3, it was Excel 1.0. Two years after creating Excel, Gates created Windows. Even though Windows is popular now, it didn’t quite make it back then. Windows was the first program where you could use a mouse Swanson 4to click on icons to get to programs. Gates figured that he rushed into the program too quick for that generation. IBM and Microsoft worked on a program that was going to succeed MS-DOS, named OS/2. IBM and Microsoft soon had disagreements and split apart. IBM kept the OS/2 and Microsoft had the rights to Windows. After the break apart other companies wanted to run on the updated Windows. Gates said, “Windows 3.0 was the most extravagant, extensive, and expensive software introduction ever (Gross 348).” The company gained half a billion dollars in a matter of three years due to Windows. “The only power great enough to stop Microsoft may have been the federal government (Gross 350).” This was thought to have made Microsoft go under The Federal Trade Commission investigations. The investigations were based on Microsoft making companies pay royalties for the machines produced, whether it had MS-DOS or not. The investigation went on for thirty months and the Justice Department’s antitrust unit decided to back down and stop the investigation. Throughout this whole investigation Gates was positive and knew that everything was going to be all right. After all of this has happened Gates became less hands-on but he said he was still hard-core. Gates latest program is Windows 95. Gates is now looking into the future trying to upgrade technology. He is now Swanson 5married to Melinda French, a Microsoft executive, and has his daughter born in April 1996, Jennifer Katharine. Gates was asked what he would since he conquered the computer world and Wall Street by the age of 30. “I haven’t given it much thought,’ says Gates. “Right now, this company is pursuing the goal of putting a personal computer on every desk top(U.S. News & World Report 44). CHAPTER 2-The Future Gates is always looking to improve America’s future. A good example of this is when he first introduced Windows. Like before he was a little far advanced for his time. He has planned out several different future inventions for the home, business and, for education. His house is very futuristic with tons of inventions that are too advanced for us now. He also wants to dominate the Internet. There are a few inventions that Gates has planned for homes in the future. The fist invention is a home control console. This is about the size of a light switch and it enables one to work with lighting,

temperature and, security within the home. Another invention is Asynchronous Television, where you are able to watch whatever program you want whenever you want to. Interactive T.V is another invention, this one allows you to skip to part of T.V Swanson 6programs that you want to watch. Finally for the home is the Electronic Marketplace this is pretty much self explanatory, but you would also be able to contact be who bought a product and ask them how they like it. Gates has planned out a few inventions for the work place. The first one is Electronic Commerce this is a small wireless computer allows you to pay with digital money and it is going to help shorten lines up. Another invention is the Wallet PC which allows you to view maps, get directions, receive messages, get news updates, store electronic money and, finally store lots of digital pictures. Mobile Communication and Video Conferencing are pretty much the same they allow you to conference with others while in a car and in other places. Finally is Voice Recognition machine, this allows you to record stuff just like a tape recorder but is writes it out on a small screen so you can see it. It also plays what you said back to you. Finally we reached the schools and Gates inventions for them. He planned to have all of the schools hooked up to the Networks and Multimedia. This will help connect kids with interesting facts and other oddities around the world. Also he said that the classroom environment would be a lot different. This is because the teachers would work with smaller groups of people do to the amount of technology that we have. Another thing Gates had planed was a Swanson 7Digital White Board. This board is hooked up to a computer a copies everything you right down and puts it on the computer in more of a business style. As people can see Gates is trying to improve the world everyday. He just feels that he has to take it slowly. He doesn’t want to overwhelm the world with to much. Also he doesn’t want to jump to far a head like he did with Windows. For that he should be known as a cultural icon.Chapter 3-The Cultural Icon What is a Cultural Icon. First what is culture, according to the Random House Webster’s Dictionary culture is the ways of living built up by a human group and transmitted to succeeding generations. Next, what is and icon, the same dictionary says an icon is a picture, image, or other representation. This would mean a cultural icon is someone who has affected generations of people. We know what a cultural icon is now but how does Bill Gates tie in as a cultural icon? Bill Gates is a cultural icon because of many reasons. One reason is he the cofounder and is now CEO of a company that has changed the world. Another reason is he strives to better the future and has never given up when trying to accomplish that. Swanson 8 The major company that changed the world is of course, Microsoft. Why did this make him such a cultural icon because, of many reasons. One reason is that we might not be as far as advanced as we are today. Without products from Microsoft we wouldn’t have Windows, which is a very widely used program today. Without Windows we would probably have a lot of confusion with computers. Windows has made it much easier to work with computers. It is just point and click. Plain and simple it, Windows has changed one generation and is going to keep changing generations. Another reason is was always looking to better the company. “William H. Gates III, wants to make Microsoft the General Motors of the industry by taking command of a much bigger and more promising market segment, the so-called applications software that consumers buy.”(Sherman 85) This shows that he had his mind set on making his company better. He did not want to give up this was his favorite thing to do. To show that he didn’t want to give up, their was an article written in 1984 by Statford P. Sherman that said:”Like other fast-growing companies racing to seize transient opportunities, Microsoft has devoted little time to developing the kind of management depth that will Swanson 9be needed to turn temporary victories into long-term dominance.”(86)He was pick to not succeed but he still did and he is continuing to do so. “More impressive to some of the computer industry has been Gate’s ability to make the shift from creative genius to businessman, a transition other founders of high-tech companies have failed to navigate.”(U.S. News & World Report 44) This section of an article shows that he is different than other people. Just like how he eats fast food and flies coach class. He can always fit the mood. Gates is always trying to better the future in technology. In Chapter 2 some of his future invention were listed. These inventions are great examples of showing that he is always looking into the future. In Chapter 1 it said that Gates created Windows but it was not successful. He did not want to give up so he made a better version and waited a while to release it. He also said that he was going to be more careful and not get to far advanced. He was not going to have another incident like the Windows one. That is why he has those inventions planned out for the future. He did not want to rush those inventions to quickly and fail again.Swanson 10 All of the examples on the other page show how Bill Gates is a cultural icon. This section is to explain these reason further in detail. Everything listed above is what makes someone a cultural icon in peoples minds. First everybody has a lasting impression of Henry Ford because he maid the first moving car. Gates invented the first point and click program. Another example is he is always looking towards the future and seeing how he can benefit it and his company. He wants us to be well of on technology and he also want his company to succeed. He is always inventing things for the future. He also never gave up in what he believe in. Everyone is looking for someone to get them off on the right foot and give a push and Gates is. He never let anyone get the best of him, even though he fail he still kept his head and tried harder. He was also picked not to go anywhere with his company by some people. People look at that as a great quality in someone. That quality rea!lly makes someone stick out and people are bound to notice that. These are some of the qualities that every person looks for when they think of a cultural icon. A cultural icon is someone that has a made an impact in the countries mind and makes a lasting impression in there mind. Bill Gates possesses the qualities that society cast as a cultural icon. That is why some feel that Bill Gates is a cultural icon.

William Henry Gates, also known as “Bill”, has established himself as the richest man in the world.

He is the youngest self made billionaire, and perhaps the best businessman in the world. Bill Gates is important because he did not only change the computer technology in America, but also created the biggest, strongest, richest and the most powerful company in the world. Bill was born on October 28, 1955, his parents, Mary and Bill, had one other daughter Kristi. Gates began his career in PC software, programming computers at age 13. As to his education, he attended a well-known private school in Seattle, Washington called Lakeside. At Lakeside, he met his future business partner Paul Allen. Bill Gates entered Harvard in 1973. He created the programming language BASIC.

Gates attended Harvard University and after a few years Gates and his business collaborator, Paul Allen, dropped ou t of Harvard to begin the Microsoft Corporation in 1975. Throughout his life, Gates had many experiences with business. Allen and Gates started a small company called Traf-O-Data. They sold a small computer outfitted with their program that could count traffic for the city. Gates also worked at a programming company called ‘TRW. After all his minor jobs, Gates and Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, the largest computer based company in the world. Gates is the Chief Executive officer and Paul Allen is VP. They are both very wealthy due to this business.

Gates believes that if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence you can accomplish anything. Bill works very hard to carry out his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hard work is what put him where he is today, as well as being in the right place at the right time. He doesn’t believe in luck or any sort of god, just hard work and competitiveness. “Trey” as he is called at home is a remarkable man who has been able to go into the world spotlight as a genius at what he does. His welfare until today is worth about 92,000,000,000 dollars.

Перевод на русский

Уильям Генри Гейтс, известный также как Билл, сделал себя богатейшим человеком в мире. Он самый молодой миллионер, который заработал деньги сам и, возможно, самый лучший бизнесмен в мире. Билл Гейтс важен не только тем, что совершил переворот в мире компьютеров в Соединенных Штатах, но и тем, что создал самую большую, самую мощную, самую богатую и самую влиятельную компанию в мире.

Билл родился 28 октября 1955 года. У его родителей Мэри и Билла есть еще и дочь Кристи. Гейтс начал свою карьеру в сфере программного обеспечения для персональных компьютеров в возрасте 13 лет. Что касается образования., он посещал широко известную частную школу в Сиэтле, штат Вашингтон, которая называлась Лейксайд. В Лейксайде он встретил своего будущего партнера по бизнесу Поля Аллена. Билл Гейтс поступил в Гарвард в 1973 году. Он создал язык программирования Бейсик. Гейтс посещал Гарвардский университет и через несколько лет вместе с Алленом ушел из Гарварда, чтобы в 1975 году создать корпорацию “Майкрософт”. За свою жизнь Гейтс накопил большой опыт.

Аллен и Гейтс организовали компанию, которая называлась “Треф-О-Дейта”. Они продали маленький компьютер, снабженный написанной ими программой для подсчета городского транспорта. Гейтс также работал в компании, которая называлась TRW. После всего этого, Гейтс и Аллен основали в 1975 году “Майкрософт”, самую большую компьютерную компанию в мире. Гейтс - главный управляющий, Пол Аллен - вице-президент. Они оба очень богаты благодаря своему бизнесу. Гейтс верит, что если ты интеллектуально развит и знаешь, как применять свой ум, ты можешь достигнуть всего, чего захочешь.

Билл очень много работает, чтобы доказать свою точку зрения. Его вера в сильный интеллект и тяжкий труд - это то, что сделало из него того, кем он сейчас является, наравне с тем, что он оказался в нужном месте в нужное время. Он не верит в удачу и ни в какого Бога, только в тяжелый труд и конкурентоспособность. Трей, как его называют дома, замечательный человек, который смог попасть в центр внимания всего мира, считаясь гением того, что он делает. Он на данный момент владеет состоянием в 92 миллиарда долларов.

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William Henry Gates III, KBE, commonly known as Bill Gates, is an American businessman and a microcomputer pioneer. Along with others, he wrote the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 . With Paul Allen, he co-founded Microsoft Corporation, and is now its chairman and “Chief Software Architect”.

According to Forbes magazine, Gates is the wealthiest person in the world, even including heads of state whose wealth is tied to their position.

Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955, to William H. Gates, Sr., a corporate lawyer, and Mary Maxwell Gates, board member of Berkshire Hathaway, First Interstate Bank, Pacific Northwest Bell and the national board of United Way. He is William Henry Gates III, his great-grandfather being the true William Henry Gates Sr.

Gates attended Lakeside School, Seattle’s most exclusive prep school, where he was able to develop his programming skills on the school’s minicomputer. In need of more computing power, Gates and his computer buddy, Paul Allen, sneaked into the University of Washington computer labs. They were later caught but struck an agreement with lab administrators by providing free computer help to students. He later went on to study at Harvard University but dropped out without graduating to pursue what would become a lifelong career in software development. It was while he was at Harvard that he met the current CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer. They were roommates during their freshman year.

While he was a student at Harvard, he co-wrote with Paul Allen the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 in the mid 1970s. It was inspired by BASIC, an easy-to-learn programming language developed at Dartmouth College for teaching purposes.

Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. They have three children,

Jennifer Katharine Gates, Rory John Gates and Phoebe Adele Gates.

In 1994, Gates acquired the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci; as of 2003 it was on display at the Seattle Art Museum.

On the cover of Time

Again on the cover of Time promoting the Xbox 360.In 1997, Gates was the victim of a bizarre extortion plot by Chicago resident Adam Quinn Pletcher. Gates testified at the subsequent trial. Pletcher was convicted and sentenced in July 1998 to six years in prison. In February 1998 Gates was attacked by Noël Godin with a cream pie.

According to Forbes, Gates donated money to the 2004 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Gates is cited as having donated at least $33,335 to over 50 political campaigns during the 2004 election cycle.

On December 14, 2004, Bill Gates joined Berkshire Hathaway’s board, formalizing the relationship between him and Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate that includes Geico, Benjamin Moore and Fruit of the Loom. Gates also serves on the board of Icos, a Bothell biotech company.

On March 2, 2005, the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom announced that Gates would receive the title of Knight of the British Empire for his contribution to enterprise in the United Kingdom and his efforts in poverty reduction around the world. Because he is not a Commonwealth citizen, he cannot use the title of “Sir” but he may put the letters “KBE” after his name.

The Gates family lives in the exclusive suburb of Medina, Washington, in a huge earth-sheltered home in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington. The Gates home is a very modern 21st century house in the “Pacific Lodge” style, with advanced electronic systems everywhere. In one respect though it is more like an 18th or 19th century mansion: it has a large private library with a domed reading room. While it does have a classic flavour, the home has many unique qualities. Visitors are surveyed and given a microchip upon entrance. This small chip sends signals throughout the house, and a given room’s temperature and other conditions will change according to preset user preferences. According to King County public records, as of 2002, the total assessed value of the property is $113 million, and the annual property tax is just over $1 million.

Microsoft Corporation.

In 1975, Gates and Allen co-founded Micro-Soft, later Microsoft Corporation, to market their version of BASIC, called Microsoft BASIC. Microsoft BASIC became the foundation of a successful software licensing business, being bundled with most home and personal computers of the 1970s and 1980s.

In February 1976, Bill Gates wrote the Open Letter to Hobbyists, which annoyed the computer hobbyist community by asserting that a commercial market existed for computer software. Gates stated in the letter that software should not be copied without the publisher’s permission, which he equated to piracy. While legally correct, Gates’ proposal was unprecedented in a community that was influenced by its ham radio legacy and hacker ethic, in which innovations and knowledge were freely shared in the community. Nevertheless, Gates was right about the market prospects, and his efforts paid off: Microsoft Corporation became one of the world’s most successful commercial enterprises and a key player in the creation of a retail software industry.

Microsoft’s key moment came when IBM was planning to enter the personal computer market with its IBM Personal Computer, which was released in 1981. IBM approached Microsoft for an operating system, but Microsoft did not have one to sell and referred IBM to Digital Research. At Digital Research, IBM representatives spoke to Gary Kildall’s wife Dorothy, but she declined to sign their standard non-disclosure agreement, which she considered overly burdensome. IBM then returned to talk to Microsoft. Gates obtained rights to a cloned design of CP/M, QDOS, from Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer products for $50,000 and licensed it to IBM for “about $80,000”, according to Gates, and MS-DOS/PC-DOS was born. Later, IBM discovered that Gates’ operating system could have infringement problems with CP/M, contacted Kildall, and in exchange for a promise not to sue, made an agreement that CP/M would be sold along with PC-DOS when the IBM PC was released. The price set by IBM for CP/M was $250, and for MS-DOS/PC-DOS it was $40. MS-DOS/PC-DOS outsold CP/M many times over, becoming the standard. Microsoft’s licensing deal with IBM was not particularly lucrative in itself, but critically, Microsoft retained the right to sell MS-DOS to other computer manufacturers. By marketing MS-DOS aggressively to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones, Microsoft gained unprecedented visibility in the microcomputer industry, even rivalling IBM.

In the mid-1980s Gates became excited about the possibilities of compact disc technology for storage and sponsored the publication of the book CD-ROM: The New Papyrus that promoted the idea of CD-ROM.

In the late 1980s, Microsoft and IBM partnered in the development of a more advanced operating system, OS/2. The operating system was marketed in connection with a new hardware design, the PS/2, that was proprietary to IBM. As the project progressed, Gates oversaw continuing friction with IBM over the system’s design, hardware support, and user interface. Ultimately he came to believe that IBM wanted to marginalize Microsoft from having any input in OS/2’s development. On May 16, 1991, Gates announced to Microsoft employees that the OS/2 partnership was over and Microsoft would henceforth focus its platform efforts on Windows and the NT kernel. In the ensuing years OS/2 fell to the side, and Windows became the favored PC platform.

During the transition from MS-DOS to Windows, Microsoft gained ground on application software competitors such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3.

Nearly a decade later, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser displaced Netscape’s Navigator, which many attributed to Microsoft’s inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows at no extra charge. An opposing view is that the inclusion in Windows was less important in Internet Explorer’s adoption than Microsoft’s improvement of the browser’s features to a level comparable with Navigator.

As the architect of Microsoft’s product strategy, Gates has aggressively broadened the company’s range of products and, once it has obtained a leading position in a category, has vigorously defended that position. His and other Microsoft executives’ strategic decisions have more than once drawn the concern of competition regulators and in some cases have been ruled illegal.

In 2000, Gates promoted long-time friend and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer to the role of Chief Executive Officer and took on the role of “Chief Software Architect”.