Peeved Bill Gates Says Everyone Copies Microsoft
This line of questioning, which essentially accused Microsoft of copying other people's inventions, sent the bespectacled founder into a tirade about how Microsoft does all the stupid things first, and that other companies, learning from Microsoft's mistakes, are able to build perfect versions of a particular product or service (and subsequently get the credit for being innovators).
Gates declared that what Microsoft does is the baseline for the entire industry, and whatever it doesn't do is the innovation. And by that definition everyone else is innovating. That's a pretty innovative, if not a little sarcastic, save/explanation.
But seriously, Gates cites IPTV and tablet computers as two areas in which Microsoft is leading the pack. "Is anyone else doing tablet computers?" he asks.
We understand Gate's being upset, and he makes some good points in his sarcastic rant about everyone borrowing from each other (with particular attention paid to Apple of course). But we do have to question some of his claims.
Sure, there are plenty of Microsoft Office and Word clones out there, but Word was far from the first word processor on the PC. Microsoft's entry only got copied after it crushed the competition, namely Wordperfect and Lotus. We racked our brains trying to think of where other companies had blatantly copied Microsoft and actually came up empty. If you've got any examples, be sure to leave them in the comments, in the meantime make sure to check out the gallery below of Microsoft's other "me too" products and services (including everything from Zune and Xbox 360 to the original Windows and MSN, which were inspired by the early Mac OS and the product of our parent company AOL, respectively).
How about you? Do you think Microsoft's reputation as a copycat is deserved, or is Bill Gates right when he says that his company does, in fact, innovate?
Gallery: Microsoft's Products Over Time
From SeattlePI
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 23)
TJ @ Dec 10th 2007 3:32PM
With 25+ years behind me in the technology industries, I can categorically state that Bill Gates and Microscum Corp are little more than copy-cats. The only thing I can think of that Microsoft has given us is "You need a patch" software - which in most cases only created further problems with MS products.
In any other industry Bill Gates would've been sued (at the very least) and most likely would be behind prison bars for his theft, and the tens of billions (if not hundreds of billions) of dollars his software has cost American industry and individuals. And THAT is how I earn my living - by fixing Microsoft's O/S (all of them), and fixing their products too. I suppose I should be thankful, but it's hard when one is cleaning up after another who is essentially a thief, and a lousy one at that.
Bob Murton @ Dec 10th 2007 3:44PM
The world has thanked Bill Gates for his neferious activities by making him the richest man on earth. We are not required to kiss his butt for some of the real slimy stuff Microsoft has pulled to get to where they are.There are thousands of people around who would have been a great deal better off if Microsoft had not targeted them for information and knowledge. But that is how the world works. The fact that he is not the only one who has done it makes it acceptable to many people.
bo @ Dec 10th 2007 3:45PM
Your right Bill Gates stole that chair idea from me!!!!!!
donald shafto @ Dec 10th 2007 3:46PM
most people that dont like gates is because ge is smarter then they area bunch of he has too much money. i like programs and if bill gates had not invented programs we would still be in the old world, thanks mr gates.
Vivi @ Dec 10th 2007 3:52PM
And so what? One does what one has to do.
Bob Wing @ Dec 10th 2007 3:55PM
Thank goodness for Bill Gates and his empire. Without the bugs and problems that Microsoft’s 10's of thousands of engineers create..... We would be out of the computer support business. I'm sure many other industries owe him their gratitude also.
Steve @ Dec 10th 2007 3:56PM
I lived in Silicon Valley in 1995 when Windows '95 was unleashed, um, I mean unveiled. Microsoft hired those rolling billboard trucks to trumpet their 'innovation' of Windows. Apple, the scrappy, and superior, competitor, hired smaller trucks that followed the Windows trucks around. On the Apple trucks was this simple message: "Congratulations Windows '95, from Apple '89." That tells you all you need to know about Bill Gates and MS. I own a PC, and will never buy another. Windows Vista is a frightening product. I am saving my money for a Mac.
skhampton @ Dec 10th 2007 3:59PM
So now the 800 pound gorilla is a whiney 800 pound gorilla. Too bad.
I think Mr. Gates has been reading copies of the testimony at the Sun/Java trial that they lost. Innovators of deceit and deception - okay. True innovators of technology - I think not. They stole the original MS-DOS. Whoops, I mean they contracted to buy it, but never paid the bill. That equals stealing in my book.
Stephanie
Bob @ Dec 10th 2007 4:00PM
Without the likes of Bill Gates and his Microsoft Company we would most likely still be hacking away at computers like we did in the 70's and 80's. Bill Gates has pulled most of us together with a common denominator in the the OS and other software that he has provided, albeit a cost to us. Who would have done it better???? Not me! Bob
johnnyqlingo @ Dec 10th 2007 4:01PM
In 1992 MS publicly declared "War" on Lotus, WordPerfect and Borland corporations. Mike Maples, VP of Marketing, said, "100% of the market is not enough for us." They then proceeded to do everything possible short of breaking into the physical facilities of their competitors to steal their code. Here are two examples.
MS Word is an example of a product that derived almost all its cool features from other companies. In fact, in 1992, MS offered $100,000.00 reward for anyone who could get them a beta copy of WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows.
Also, that same year, at Comdex 1992 in Chicago, I was one of the main presenters for WP60 for Windows, and during one particular showing of the new feature set I personally witnessed seven MS software designers/engineers on the front row of our briefing with pen and notepad in hand waiting to see what all the buzz was about. (Shame on WP for showing the product so soon!!!) When I showed them the drag and drop features that included the "paint-in-table" feature they just about lost it. You know this feature. You just click on the Tables icon on the button bar and then drag out to the numbers of rows and columns you want. When you release the mouse button the table is painted in automatically.
From that moment on during my presentation they had their heads down taking notes. Sadly, WP Corp was too slow to get the product out before MS. And impressively (cunningly) MS had all of the cool features from WP60.
Employees from other 1990's companies could relate similar stories.
Ironically, and in partial agreement with Bill's assertions, MS Dynamics (CRM especially) shows no signs of feature "stealing" from competitors. They took three years to get the 3.0 product out and its feature set is still trumped by SalesLogix and others. So, maybe they're not taking features and code sets from competitors nowadays, but they used to--and it shows!
gm907 @ Dec 10th 2007 4:02PM
if I am not mistaken MS invented the GUI OS. That is huge. That changed the world period.
Sharon @ Dec 10th 2007 4:06PM
Microsoft stole DOS -- from QDOS. Word is the best of WordPerfect and Lotus. Vista is an Apple lookalike -- and is a royal pain in the butt and like the problems with Outlook, the problems will not be solved for years to come. If Mr. Gates has bought interest in printer companies -- because Vista works with so few peripherals, it would not surprise me. Microsoft is not an innovator. It is a tweaker and marketer. It does both excellently -- but innovation? NO! They use, steal, or buy out the ideas of others and become the monopoly for the industry.
Nick Hofmann @ Dec 10th 2007 4:08PM
You've got to be kidding me! The nerve of some people. The entire Foundation of MS is built on their breaking down and then copying the Mac OS when they were under contract to provide programming for the Mac. The only reason they got away with it was that in that day and age, Judges for the most part thought computers will still using vacuum tubes and punch cards and had NO idea what the lawyers were arguing about!
And of course the lone voices supporting the Gates empire have all the linguistic sophistication of grubs - and are happy to repeat the BS coming forth from Bullhead-Ballmer's orifice.
They're not just copycats - they're thieves. The only innovation they are responsible for is creative theft.
-NH
skhampton @ Dec 10th 2007 4:08PM
Hey Bob,
Apple did it better and earlier than Micro$oft. In fact, the Macintosh OS was the product that they reverse engineered to come up with Windows. The only thing that Bill and Co did was separate the OS from the hardware. Apple wanted their systems to be a total package for the consumer. Unpack, sit down, plug in, and go. And that is what happens. Oh yeah, the system works exactly the same everytime. With a Windows system, you never know what you will get when you power it on. It makes life much more exciting. And it keeps me paid. I am Mac certified, Sun certified, and I make my money working on broken PCs. The others are still in place and just keep on working.
Stephanie
Larry @ Dec 10th 2007 4:09PM
"in the business world, there are those that can do, and those that can't criticize" -- thanks Bill for fine products! regards, www.lawrencebeebe.com
Ray @ Dec 10th 2007 4:10PM
Good work Bill!
Look forward to new products in the next decade.
Nicholas Donovan @ Dec 10th 2007 4:10PM
Micro... Who? Seriously Bill Gates is a whiner. I use PC-BSD, Linux and other desktop and server software whose usability and features far surpass Microsoft.
Microsoft copied KDE (www.kde.org) for Windows Vista.
Hell, Windows is still a single-user kernel. how stupid is that?
At least Linux and Unix have multiple desktops, much better UI, (See www.kde.org or www.gnome.org ) and are real multi-user kernels.
I'm in medicine now but I used to design operating systems and it's my professional opinion as well as my personal opinion that Microsoft is a waste of time and money.
Cheers,
Nick
PS: It's also my understanding that Bill Gates also believes in the practice of eugenics. How sick is that?
Bill - Your Pseudo-intellectual arrogance is laughable.... You're slowly getting stomped by Apple, IBM and Open Source. Good Riddance to you and your crappy products.
Keith @ Dec 10th 2007 4:11PM
Gates stole my idea for computer aided fart lighting. (CAF) I Want my money!
Eugene @ Dec 10th 2007 4:12PM
I've always made my living in UNIX/Solaris so I am a bit removed from this Windows/Mac argument, but here goes...
Windows acts like a broken Mac O/S - always has, always will. Is there a place for both Mac and Windows O/S? Yes. Vista is a resource hog - that is fact - and no one would want to copy that.
However, Microsoft is good for what it is. There are many, many people who earn their living in the Microsoft/Windows world, VB, Access, Excel, PowerPoint and tons of Microsoft partners. Certainly nothing wrong with that.
johnnyqlingo @ Dec 10th 2007 4:14PM
gm907, with all due respect to a stranger, you are SO misinformed/wrong. MS did NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT invent the gui. Oh my gosh!!!! Please read your history books on how the PC and OS worlds came to be. A good one is Accidental Empires by Cringely, or Big Blues. There are dozens.
Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) invented the GUI. Both Bill, and Steve Jobs of Apple, saw the gui while visiting PARC and both knew intuitively that it was the future. Jobs beat Bill to the punch with his Apple and Mac products, but eventually, Bill trumped Apple with his marketing machines. Now, I'm not ignorant to the fact that Bill paid his dues while working under the thumb of IBM with his work on PC DOS and OS/2, both of which failed.
PARC also hosted the brains that invented lasar printing, ethernet, graphical type (true type) and the mouse.
Can you say "derivitive!"
MS is a "derivitive" company. It is a great strategy to let others invent, struggle, make mistakes and then either buy them or copy their features sets after they've gotten past version 1.0. And, from many of us who lived through it, it is a slimy and dirty business when they steal ideas that are built into software products of companies that had to live up to MS's rules in order to operate properly riding on DOS or Windows or NT or Win 95, etc.