Bill Gates stepped down last week from day to day operations at Microsoft. During the last 10 years or so, several people in the world have developed a love-hate relationship with him - for various reasons, maybe the strong monopoly he has enjoyed for so many years, maybe the riches he has earned, maybe they really see some real unbiased problems with whatever comes out of Redmond - who knows? I was never a Microsoft employee nor do I idolize Bill Gates (although there is nothing wrong in that if I would), so what I say here is my *fair* assessment of the whole “I-hate-Microsoft-and-Bill-Gates” syndrome I have observed in the tech community.

I have gone from being a 100% Windows user on the personal front, with Unix (System V + Solaris) and Windows personality at work, to, still being a, Windows and now Mac OS X person with shades of Linux on the personal front and a Linux+Mac OS X personality at work. I have completely switched over to Mac at work mostly because I wanted a change and I had heard Mac users boasting about Mac all the time and Linux isn’t so much of a day-to-day OS IMHO. I did like Mac for its style, quicker startup/shutdown times and its closeness to Unix. And I do understand, that many of the ideas everyone got used to, in Windows, came from Mac.

Having clearly stated my background, now let me say what I think about Bill Gates..

A person like Bill Gates, who works really hard when the other boys were partying, who thinks about his vision of the world ahead of everyone else, takes up challenges, tackles all kinds of problems, believes in his ideas and opinions, creates something and manages to be successful like no other in the world.. In the process, he brings about an explosive growth in the personal computing world - which I might dare say, is largely responsible for people being able to take interest in the work done by others to compete with Microsoft - such as Linux. It is sad that the world of competition, business and law, taints your success in this manner. And suddenly you become that person who everybody loves to hate. Sure, one would argue that it’s a price you pay when you become the world’s richest man.

I know people have used and liked OS’s such as Unix even before Microsoft. But needless to say, those OS’s never got mainstream. It may be hard to admit, but one has to acknowledge that computing is not and cannot afford to be a privileged activity of a handful of techies. If Microsoft dumbed your ‘oh-so-intriguing’ OS, then so be it. One has to appreciate the fact that it really brought computers to everyone’s doorstep in a way that they could use them without needing to be computer geeks.

I am a big fan of Unix and I have worked with Unix since 1990. Having been a computer programmer for at least 18 years and running, and having done my Bachelors and Masters studies in the same field, I can still see the value that Windows brought to the consumer. Yes, Unix is stable like a rock, has better command line interface, bla bla bla.. but give it to a non-geek, and I have seen it makes no sense to him. And it is not as simple as just having a GUI for it - because most Unix flavors have that interface now. It is simply not as intuitive nor it is easy to understand nor is it usable to that extent.

My point is, I have found faults and stupidities in EVERY OS I have worked with - be it Unix, Linux or Mac OS X. I have seen people ignoring or justifying idiosyncrasies of their favorite OS while being nit-picky with Windows.. What with people arguing about how it is stupid to be able to resize a window using any edge like Windows does, and how it makes *total sense* to be able to resize a window ONLY using ONE CORNER of the window like Mac OS!! I have actually found forums where people say this confidently! I find it completely insane, a bias of highest degree!

One of the main reasons I believe you find more faults in Windows, is because it is more widely used and (hence) abused. You know too much familiarity brings disrespect? Compare that with how many people really understand Mac or Unix or Linux. Put those OS’s in front of those many people, and they will get hacked into and finally ridiculed just like Windows.

I don’t dispute the monopolistic business practices of Microsoft - from Internet Explorer to Windows Media Player - all because they controlled the OS market like no other. And if I was the owner of these competing products, it would make me really mad. But think of it this way, I create an OS and start thinking that it’s my platform, my world and I can do whatever I want in it. This is a typical techie attitude. I will throw in an Internet Explorer in there, throw in a firewall, a media player… and I think I am providing everything that my users can get outside right here in MY environment. Now suddenly the world cries foul! Because my environment, over time, just became this open-to-all platform where I am not allowed to promote my own products. Sure, I can not be naive when I am running a multi-billion dollar business and I should understand these dynamics. I can just see how a techie would work in such a scenario.

Also, my objection is only with the whole bias thing. I think Bill Gates should get the respect he deserves and so does Microsoft. I have cursed Windows many times, when it crashes or if it gets slow, or when it does something really stupid. But I know I have had just as many reasons to do the same with other OS’s I have worked with. In the computer land, I don’t think anybody is a clear winner.

I think Bill Gates left a great legacy at Microsoft - one they should be proud of. A great success story does not happen because the man is one of a kind, it happens because the efforts are one of a kind. Leaving aside the legalities and technicalities, I just think the man wasn’t a gambler, he was a techie and even the possibility of any monopoly was created out of his efforts and not out of luck. He is surely not “Good riddance” as some of the internet pundits have proclaimed.. to say the least.