I'm sure Bill Gates personally programs the updates, between his golfing and his swimming in his own private ocean .

his swimming in his own private ocean

I always wondered who owned the Pacific ocean, now I know!

Using the video drivers from Microsoft is a bad idea all around if you're a gamer.

Bill Gates gives more money to charities than most countries.

He's not ALL bad.

I don't hate Bill Gates. The quality of his company's products and Microsoft's business practices pale in comparison to his and his wife's philanthropy, and their plan to give away virtually their entire fortune before their deaths.

People arent saints, and no one acts as a paragon of virtue at all times. Bearing that in mind, I don't think you could ask for a nicer guy than Bill Gates to be the richest man on the planet.

Bill Gates gives more money to charities than most countries. He's not ALL bad.

Lots of wealthy people give to charity for one reason --- TAX Write Off --- .
As a bonus for them giving to charity the wealthy people get to attend these fancy $500 or $1000 a plate events.
This allows them to socialize with other wealthy people, eat a luxurious meal and meet top entertainers.


Does Bill Gates give to charity beyond what can be used for a Tax Write Off ??
If he does... then he's a good hearted person.

Lots of wealthy people give to charity for one reason --- TAX Write Off --- . As a bonus for them giving to charity the wealthy people get to attend these fancy $500 or $1000 a plate events. This allows them to socialize with other wealthy people, eat a luxurious meal and meet top entertainers. Does Bill Gates give to charity beyond what can be used for a Tax Write Off ?? If he does... then he's a good hearted person.

Julius Caesar gave away quite a bit to the poor citizens of Rome. It did not change the fact he was a scheming tyrant.

What upsets me about Microsoft is this: I have been working with computers for 25-30 years. I worked with DOS since version 2.0 (beige manual). I worked with Windows since 2.0, Windows 286, Windows 386, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, etc. I have seen many good programs, such as Netscape, Lotus 123 Spreadsheet, Borland C compiler, WordPerfect, etc. Microsoft would decide to get into that particular market. They lacked the in-house talent, so they would by a small company with a product in that area. They did not write Internet Explorer, they bought a company called Spyglass. The Spyglass browser was very primitive compared to Netscape 2.0/3.0. They figured the way to get market share was to give their inferior product away for free and put it on all desktops by making it part of the operating system. Netscape did not have a chance. A superior product fell away to an inferior product with superior marketing. Have you noticed that significant updates to Internet Explorer ceased after Netscape was destroyed? It has been 4 or 5 YEARS since any significant new functionality has been added to Internet Explorer. Why is that? Once the competition is gone, the incentive to innovate and improve is gone, too.
Don't tell me Bill Gates is a saint. I have watched him for thirty years. In my opinion, he is just about the worst thing to happen to the computer industry. There should have been someone who emphasized technical excellence ALONG with marketing at the helm of the personal computer operating system revolution. There wasn't. We got the equivalent of a used car salesman. Because of his marketing genius, we are surrounded by buggy software like Windows which is security hole ridden. Microsoft = superior marketing, inferior products.

I agree with jks, all we have with bill gates is a sales man, and with microsoft we have nothing but a company trying to make as much money as possible, while innovating as little as possible. I heard that to play Halo 2 when it comes out on PC, the new windows will be required to play it. Not that I would ever buy Halo 2, let alone on a pc, but that is still rediculous, Imagine the bugs on the new windows......... i wouldnt be surpised if my comp created some kind of vortex once installed. "imperitive all new windows users dowload vortex patch imediatly, sorry for the inconveniance." power is to be wielded lightly, not like a mobster with a baseball bat.

how does financial activity truly work?

-0.

Google "Immortality Project". Rich men, once they have done their pillaging, want to be remembered. Some give to colleges to have their names on a building, others, like Ford, an evil man who was a friend of the leader of Germany in thirties, create foundations. If humanitarianism was their life goal, they'd have gone into the peace corps straight out of college. Its more of an afterthought. In Bill Gate's case, I think the idea of giving originated with his wife.

Google "Immortality Project". Rich men, once they have done their pillaging, want to be remembered. Some give to colleges to have their names on a building, others, like Ford, an evil man who was a friend of the leader of Germany in thirties, create foundations. If humanitarianism was their life goal, they'd have gone into the peace corps straight out of college. Its more of an afterthought. In Bill Gate's case, I think the idea of giving originated with his wife.

For starters, Bill and Melinda Gates on the whole keep quiet about their donations, and seem to keep a low profile in general. True, they have some college buildings named after them (French Sciences Center, for Melinda French Gates at Duke University and William H. Gates Hall at the University of Washington), but who will remember them for funding 90% of the Polio vaccination programs?

Either way, try asking someone in Africa who survived Polio, or a child in east Asia who survived Encephalitis, thanks to the Gates' funding for vaccines whether they give a damn about his motivation behind it.

EDIT: Oh, actually, the William H. Gates Hall is named after William H. Gates Sr., not Bill Gates.

pfft...Igmar Kamprad (the IKEA guy) comes in at a paltry 28b....Bill G. is pushing 50b.

Its Bill G.
Warren Buffet
Carlos Helu (Mexican telecom)
Igmar K.
Lakshmi Mittal (steel)
Paul Allen