You can't deny that this is someone who gets software and knows how things are supposed to be. Now whether Microsoft gets software or not is debatable, but BillG most certainly does. Anyone that's spoken to him in real-life (even some of the most fanboyish Apple users) has confirmed this fact time and time again - it's a real shame for the software industry he "decided" to pull back from his company in 2001.
Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
31–40 of 91 posts
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#32Its good that these sort of issues are exposed, even if by Bill. The scary thing is that MS QA does not pick this stuff up. As more of this stuff gets exposed this will hopefully make MS work harder. And as Apple is becoming a REAL contender, hopefully MS will pull their head out of their ass.
ain't gonna happen GMB.. ain't gonna happen.
I do agree with your observation though..... I'm just not as optimistic in regard to the outcome.
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#33"they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." And rightly so. Anyone who tries to use the download page to download something will give up and never try it again, so after a while everyone will ignore it!
Your logic is stunning raganwald... stunning..
I'm rolling on the floor...
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is it the corporate structure then? Yeah, probably. However, it's hard to keep a big company like Microsoft under one person's control. Look at Apple's success; they have a tiny product line (compared to Microsoft), and so Jobs can make sure everything is good.
Really? I've got no interest in counting them all up, but I thought Apple would have more products than Microsoft.
Well, think about...
Windows Vista. Ultimate, Home Premium, Home Basic, Business, Enterprise, Lite.
Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office Professional, Microsoft Office Standard, Office Small Business, Office Ultimate, Office Enterprise, Office Professional Plus.
Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft Intellimouse, Microsoft intellimouse Explorer, Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer Bluetooth, Microsoft Intellimouse Presenter.
Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player Ultimate Pack...
Compared to:
Mac OS X
iWork
Mighty Mouse
iTunes
I think the lesson here is obvious.
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#35And that's how a guy with "no taste" critiques. Imagine Steve Jobs' emails!
Steve Jobs said Microsoft has no taste, not Bill Gates. I think that if you're a good software developer (and BillG certainly qualifies), you need to at least have some degree of taste.
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's surprising because you might think Bill Gates would have some pull at his own company. Most of these issues he raises have been problems for years, and have gotten even worse in some cases!
Many of these problems are still prevalent in Microsoft. Confusing processes and the like. So, it's not Gates. Gates is a good guy and he sounds like he gets it. Is it the corporate structure then?
When Microsoft started out it operated under a pretty flat organizational structure, similar to how Google is run. They've gotten fat in the middle (management) over the years and it's stifled any chance they've had of getting anything done.
See this blog post from a former MS employee about the year it took to design the shutdown menu in Vista: http://moishelettvin.blogspot.com/2006/11/windows-shutdown-c...
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#37Why is this surprising? Bill Gates doesn't need to fanboi Microsoft internally; it's his company. He needs to be as critical as possible so the outside world gets a good product. It's his company that looks bad when things like this happen, so of course he is going to "rant" about it. It's his job.
It's surprising because you might think Bill Gates would have some pull at his own company. Most of these issues he raises have been problems for years, and have gotten even worse in some cases!
What's scary about Microsoft is that a company so big can develop software at all. They're like a mountain that can walk.
-Paul Graham
One of my favorite PG quotes.
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#38And that's how a guy with "no taste" critiques. Imagine Steve Jobs' emails!
The problem is that microsoft doesn't need critiques as much as someone to fire the idiots in charge of the places the problems arise. The problem with microsoft is that no one fires the idiots who think it's OK to let customers see this kind of crap.
Bill Gates could be as good as critiquing things as Steve Jobs, but unless he fires the idiots who thought the dumb implementations were acceptable, all that valid criticism ain't worth two shits.
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#39The difference between Apple and Microsoft is that this rant would come from Steve Jobs long before the products were actually shipped.
Re: Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
#40And that's how a guy with "no taste" critiques. Imagine Steve Jobs' emails!
Steve Jobs said Microsoft has no taste, not Bill Gates. I think that if you're a good software developer (and BillG certainly qualifies), you need to at least have some degree of taste.
It's pretty clear that BillG has business, management, and technical acumen, but I'm not so sure that he has taste in the aesthetic sense. If he does have good aesthetic taste, he hasn't done a very good job of implementing it.