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Some people regard him as a computer genius who started a new kind of artificial intelligence. Others see him as a present-day innovator whose knowledge created a revolution in the software industry. Nevertheless, whatever people may think of him, Bill Gates is one of the most successful men in his generation. He turned a two-man operation into a multi-billion dollar company in less than two decades. Gates was able to achieved this not by creating a new kind of technology but by adapting an existing one and delivering it with a great promotion and marketing strategy.

Gates’ first encounter with computers happened while he was studying at Lakeside School in Seattle. A company offered a free use of their computer to the school through a Teletype link, and Bill Gates together with his fellow student Paul Allen come up with a program (Traf-O-Data) which is use to measure traffic flow in Seattle area. Their hard work paid off and the two teens earned $20,000.

In 1973,  Gate’s entered Harvard University in his own volition but he preferred spending his time mostly in playing cards and video games. When he was still a child his favorite games were “Risk” and “Monopoly.”His father influenced him to enroll in the university although he’s into computer programming and despite his talent in software developing.

Their school life changed when Paul Allen happened to read an article about the Altair 8800, the world’s first microcomputer, and showed this to Gates. They saw an opportunity in this and started working on BASIC for the Altair. They phoned the manufacturer in Albuquerque, Mexico, the MITS and talked to the president, prior to working on their software and had agreed to test it. Allen flew to Mexico to have the software tested and it run in their amazement. Bill Gates then dropped off Harvard and followed Allen to Albuquerque where they founded Microsoft. The team-up shortly began creating software programs for other computer companies like Commodore Tandy Corp. and Apple when MITS collapsed.

Allen and Gates transferred to Seattle in 1979 and that’s when Microsoft earned even more. Gates learned that IBM had trouble in their operating system for its new computer. He developed MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) then licensed it to IBM retaining the right to license it to other PC manufacturers.

Soon thereafter, the computer market was packed with clones. After the first IBM PCs were released, cloners such as Compaq introduced their compatible PCs too. The cloners thought they will spend less if they were to purchase MS DOS rather than producing their own operating systems. This situation led MS DOS becoming the standard operating system for the PC industry. Microsoft raked in $7 million in 1980 to $16 million in 1981.

Microsoft continues their unmatched success until Apple introduced the first Macintosh computer in 1984. Its Graphical User Interface (GUI) was a lot easier to use than MS-DOS. Gates by then had also developed Windows operating system and took it to public in 1986, making him one, if not the wealthiest person in the country that time. The battle of the operating system reached the court when Apple filed a lawsuit against Microsoft claiming that Windows was a rip-off version of Macintosh. The case ended in mid-1990s when the court finally decided that Apple’s suit had no merit.

Bill Gates proceeded in improving Windows and developing versions of the program. Third-party developers created programs for Windows as well and Microsoft’s own applications selling rate increased. In 1993, there were 1 million copies sold per month and was approximately running on nearly 85 percent of the world’s computers.

By the year 1999, Microsoft was selling a rate of $19.7 billion and Gates earnings amounted to $90 billion. Microsoft continued to dominate the computer market by combining Windows into other applications convincing PC makers to have their software installed on every computer.
Microsoft’s success was again scrutinized and its competitors filed a lawsuit complaining that it use its operating system to monopolize and paralyze the development of new technology. In 1988, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against the company over its practice of bundling software with windows.

In 1999, a U.S. District Court ruled that Microsoft had monopolized the market for desktop-computer operating systems. The court also stated that the company was indeed involved in strategies holding out any new innovations that might threaten its stand in the multibillion-dollar computer industry. A federal mediator was on the look-out but as of this time, no settlement has been reached between the government and Microsoft.

Bill Gates immeasurable success in his industry puzzled both his supporters and detractors. They believed that there were really two Gates. One is a computer nerd who can “hack” codes and develop soft wares. The other is the hard-working business man who has focused on setting standards from the start. These standards had founded and influenced our computer world up to this time.

The company wouldn’t be what it is today if not also for the other partner in the team-up which is Paul Allen. Allen was the one who wrote Microsoft’s first program. He lead the company to success through his ideas and computer skills, including MS-DOS, Windows, and Microsft Word. His career reached a turning point when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1983.

Due to his situation he chose to live and enjoy his life with all the things his wealth could afford during which time the cancer went into remission. Allen then founded Asymetrix in 1985 rather than going back to Microsoft. Since then he became one of the country’s successful computer programmers