Nickname: arsenicks

Review: thank you for the information i understand who bill gates is now

Date reviewed: Dec 6, 2006 5:14 PM

Nickname: bss

Review: Gates will long be remembered for the monopoly that was Microsoft and the many lives destroyed by it. (http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/ms_index.htm)

Date reviewed: Jun 24, 2006 3:22 AM

Nickname: Not-Dave!

Review: Amazingly, nobody mentioned the reason I only use Microsoft products--because they are free (to me). Yet there are years-old defects and general instability. Microsoft could be likened to a huge building that is not being maintained--big, shiny, and rotten inside. Too late to fix that.

Date reviewed: Jun 21, 2006 5:47 PM

Nickname: FutureUser

Review: Your article fails to explain the dominant feature of Microsoft and the Gates/Ballmer cabal--their proven track record of cheating the consumer, cheating the government, and cheating innovative competitors. How about Jerry Kaplan and his brilliant invention, the pen-based PC? Not to mention the monopoly in which Microsoft held the PC makers "in trust"--using them as a software distribution channel under their thumb. History will judge Microsoft harshly--true history, not rosy cheerleading by ostrich-like pundits who refuse to see the whole picture.

Date reviewed: Jun 20, 2006 4:28 PM

Nickname: dave

Review: Good article. Ballmer's come in for a lot of criticism lately, but some of that should fall on Bill. It remains to be seen how Microsoft performs without Bill as Chief Software Architect, but it is possible that the company can maintain its dominant position, and maybe even grow.

Date reviewed: Jun 19, 2006 6:10 AM

Nickname: applesince84

Review: I read this article because of my admiration for Bill Gates. Certainly his fierce competitiveness has made many critics but caused the computer and software world to stay on its toes. That's capitalism, baby. As a socially conscious, take-action person, Bill Gates deserves mega respect. No, giga respect.

Date reviewed: Jun 18, 2006 12:06 PM

Nickname: proofreader

Review: Editorial comment: Didn't the author mean to say "cannot be overstated" instead of "cannot be understated?"

Date reviewed: Jun 17, 2006 6:29 AM

Nickname: solomonrex

Review: Stockholders have been punishing Microsoft for good reason. The Office/Windows combination is as profitable as possible, they should be delivering dividends, not taking on Google and Sony. I like the effort against Sony, but it's not in the stockholder's best interests. I think the Live initiative shows how far behind Microsoft is in some areas and how lacking its organization is. "Windows Live Mail Desktop" should tell you everything about their focus. Google is the future software development platform. Office is far from dead, but businesses aren't going to embrace Microsoft's new proprietary initiatives with so many on-demand offerings.

Date reviewed: Jun 16, 2006 9:47 PM

Nickname: sandvika dude

Review: Gates' legacy will long be debated. Microsoft (like it or not!) is one of the world's truly great companies. The present unsteadiness in Microsoft reminds one of 1985--a time when another great company IBM begun to lose its way for a few years. But what sets apart the boys from the men-- they always come back !

Date reviewed: Jun 16, 2006 3:35 PM

Nickname: tzvin

Review: With all the praise being heaped on Google, it's worth noting that in the final analysis, Google is merely a collection of Web-based, ad-reliant free services. Its e-mail Gmail is slow and limited in its ability to handle attachments (you still need a POP3 account to do any real work). Google's Writely program can never be a serious replacement for Microsoft Word. As for Apple, the Mac is a top-notch OS. It can easily go head to head with Windows. The only factor standing in its way is cost. Mac being a proprietary machine, i.e., one must purchase Apple's machine in order to run their software/OS is what keeps the Mac from giving Windows a true run for its money. While it is true that Microsoft has been a bit lacking of late, (aside from the whole Vista fiasco, IE7 is long overdue) it is because of inexpensive computers based on Windows that so many of us have been able to enjoy the "PC revolution."

Date reviewed: Jun 16, 2006 2:52 PM