How Microsoft got the fateful contract. The past is carefully hidden. (full version)

Unveiling Bill Gates' Success Story Amid Presidential Curses The 19th century marked the beginning of a story involving Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Despite various conspiracy theories surrounding him, his success can be traced back to his challenging upbringing and family dynamics. The legend of an Indian chief's curse on American presidents adds intrigue to historical events, with instances like William Henry Harrison's short presidency and Ronald Reagan surviving an assassination attempt.

Decoding Mysterious Presidential Curse Through Historical Patterns An interesting statistical pattern emerges from examining US presidents in relation to a supposed curse by an Indian chief. From William Henry Garrison lasting only 30 days as president due to illness to George Bush Sr.'s survival of an assassination attempt in Georgia, each case seems linked by this mysterious curse. However, modern-day President Biden breaks the alleged cycle by surpassing the timeframe associated with previous cursed presidents.

Bill Gates II displayed excessive imagination by naming his son after himself, but the son did not inherit any of the following Bill's traits. The first Bill Gates' father was a man with Jewish names who later became a settler and legislator in Pennsylvania. Despite inheriting a furniture store from his grandfather, Bill Gates I pursued a career as a corporate lawyer and eventually became president of the State Bar Association.

The Transition into Public Activities Mat Meri (Maksvell) Geits transitions into public activities after marrying Preston Gates and Ellis, becoming involved in various charitable organizations. Her family's wealth and influence from her father and grandfather allow her to hold positions on multiple boards of directors, including a major insurance company. Despite Bill Gates II downplaying their status as middle class, the family's connections open doors for them in non-profit companies.

Board Membership Impact In 1980, Meri Geits joins the board of United Way, a prominent non-profit organization funded by private donations aimed at improving education globally. She serves alongside John Opel during his presidency years at IBM. Their involvement in United Way signifies strategic networking opportunities that may have influenced their future endeavors.

Early Interest in Computers and Programming Bill Gates, as a young student, showed early interest in computer systems and programming. His school for boys provided computer literacy classes even before the first personal computers were widely available. Alongside his best friend Paul Allen, they delved into programming at a young age.

Founding of Computer Center Corporation Gates and Allen's passion for programming led them to start experimenting with coding on rented machine time from their school. They later founded a company called Computer Center Corporation with other graduates to access more advanced computing resources like the PDP-10 system.

Financial Struggles and Resource Management The duo faced financial challenges when their free machine time ended, leading them to pay for renting computing resources individually based on each person's usage records. Despite setbacks like bankruptcy threats due to mismanagement of funds, they persevered by finding loopholes in the system.

Collaborative Success As Gates focused on developing scheduling software for his high school project independently without initial success until enlisting help from friends like Kent Evans after tragic events unfolded involving an engineer’s death during mountain climbing accidents. This collaboration marked another milestone where teamwork triumphed over individual efforts.

Bill's Initial Earnings and Badge Business Bill started his first earnings in the second year during the election campaign by buying 5,000 badges with a Democratic Party representative's image for $150. After the person disappeared from Democrats' lists, Bill sold badges as collectibles at $20 each and potentially earned over a hundred thousand dollars.

Traffic Data Processing Venture The company they co-founded later focused on processing traffic data using an Intel 88008 processor but faced competition from larger computers. An engineer developed a specialized device to encrypt traffic data efficiently, leading to profits of $6631 before closing down due to government offering similar free services.

Harvard Dropout & Early Ventures Before dropping out of Harvard Law School after six months, Bill improved his skills through contracts like developing software analyzing real-time energy needs. He also worked on emulating Intel 8008 without purchasing microprocessors—a method later used by Microsoft in the '80s despite pursuing law initially.

Innovative Creation of Altair 8800 The Altair 8800 was a groundbreaking personal computer that transitioned from fantasy to reality. It required manual assembly and programming using toggle switches, lacking standard input methods like keyboards. Despite its flaws, the Altair's low cost of $397 compared to Intel 8080 processor's retail price of $360 was achieved through a strategic contract with Intel for processors at only $75 each.

Software Development Challenges on Altair Developing software for the Altair involved challenges such as high memory costs and the need to optimize code efficiently. Collaboration between key figures like Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Monte Davidoff led to innovations in programming languages tailored for the machine's limited capabilities.

Milestone Achievements with Universal Computing After overcoming initial hurdles in software development, including writing bootloaders manually and optimizing code efficiency within limited memory constraints, programmers were able to create diverse applications beyond basic memory tests on the versatile Altair system. This marked a significant milestone in computing history as it paved the way for further advancements in universal computer usage.

The Birth of Microsoft Microsoft's journey began in July 1975 when Bill Gates and Paul Allen realized the shift from informal agreements to official contracts. They secured exclusive rights and licenses for BASIC, leading to Microsoft's formation with a 60-40 profit-sharing agreement.

Software Development Challenges IBM introduced a diskette with 243 KB capacity, prompting Microsoft to enhance BASIC for loading from disks. Despite initial low earnings, software piracy became an issue as many copied BASIC without regard for copyrights.

Strategic Business Expansion As microcomputers gained popularity, Microsoft strategically priced their products lower than development costs. This approach attracted buyers like General Electric who paid increasing amounts for software solutions. The company also hired more developers focusing on compiler tools and expanding into new processor markets.

Bill Gates' Ambition and Partnership Dynamics Microsoft transitions from MITS to Microsoft in the late 1970s, moving to a new office with six employees. Bill Gates is portrayed as confident and ambitious, ready to advance for his benefit. He discusses partnership fairness with Paul Allen and negotiates ownership percentages.

Legal Battles Over Company Acquisition Challenges arise when D Roberts decides to sell MITS along with Altair together. Legal battles ensue but are resolved in Microsoft's favor due to strategic agreements made by Bill Gates at Harvard University.

Innovative Strategies for Processor Development Paul Allen anticipates Intel 8086 processor specifications before its market release, demonstrating proactive innovation strategies within Microsoft's development processes.

In the late '70s, Microsoft shifted from CP/M to 8086. The operating system CPM became a standard for microcomputers, reducing the need for significant changes with each new machine. BIOS emerged as a crucial component in computer systems, handling software-hardware compatibility effectively.

In 1980, Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft as an assistant to the president. Upon his arrival at the office, Allen described Ballmer's appearance resembling an NKVD operative due to his family history in Pinsk under Russian Empire and later USSR. Bill Gates offered Ballmer 5% of Microsoft but secretly decided to inform him that he would receive a significant share of 75%, leading Balmer to decline any services from Gates.

Evolution of IBM in Computer Market IBM faced challenges in the computer market and considered acquiring Atari based on a commission's recommendation. Apple was seen as superior to Atari, prompting IBM to contemplate creating its own machine. The company realized the need for change due to a rapidly evolving market.

Influence of Open Architecture on Technology Industry Opel agreed with adopting an open architecture like Apple, involving external hardware suppliers and software developers. Microsoft became significant due to its Basic language standardization and sales growth, leading IBM's research towards Microsoft.

Influence of Mary Gates on Microsoft's Contract with IBM The success of Microsoft's contract with IBM is attributed to Bill Gates' mother, Mary Gates. She was influential in securing the contract due to her connections and involvement in charitable organizations. Mary's presence on the executive committee of United Way helped pave the way for Microsoft's crucial deal with IBM.

Dinner Meeting: Suspicions Surrounding Influence at ABM A book later corroborates a story about a dinner meeting involving Bill, Steve Ballmer, and John Opel from IBM where suspicions arise regarding Mary Gates potentially influencing business decisions at ABM through her charity work. The collaboration between Microsoft and IBM led to significant growth for both companies in software development.

IBM's Transition and Microsoft Influence The criminal IBM version transitions seamlessly into the second criminal version. It suggests that when IBM wanted to enter the personal computer business, they initially had no understanding of processors or operating systems like CPM. Microsoft's products were included in their plans from the start, convincing them to choose a 16-bit processor over an 8-bit one.

Bill Gates' Impact on Operating Systems In this narrative, Bill Gates and Tim Patterson play crucial roles in shaping events. Patterson rewrites CPM as QDOS, which is later bought by Microsoft and renamed MS-DOS. This move signifies a shift towards independent software sales for Microsoft while leaving rights with IBM temporarily before transitioning fully to Microsoft.

The official version of the story portrays Bill Gates as a brilliant programmer who single-handedly elevated Microsoft through hard work. He secured a major contract in his life due to lack of serious competition from IBM.

Unveiling Bill Gates' Early Days The story begins with the genius programmer Bill Gates, who was not initially a standout but had a collective effort in his early work. Apple took BASIC only for floating-point operations from Monty's work. Gates is portrayed as an opportunist rather than a pure technocrat by Jerry Kilde.

IBM Contract Negotiations Mary couldn't influence IBM's contract decisions due to her limited role and lack of direct involvement with ABM projects. John Akers and John Opel were not key decision-makers at that time, leaving room for opportunistic moves by Microsoft.

Key Decisions Made by Tom Carey Tom Carey made crucial decisions regarding Mary Geis' son without clear motivations or preferences towards Microsoft or other companies involved in the deal-making process.

Strategic Software Development Microsoft strategically acquired licenses and developed operating systems compatible with Intel processors, leading to significant advancements in their software offerings compared to competitors like Digital Research.

Role of Seattle Computer Products Seattle Computer Products played a pivotal role in providing hardware support for Intel processors while Tim Patterson developed Quick and Dirty Operating System (QDOS) under tight deadlines.

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Innovative Ideas in Early Microsoft Days Bill Gates supported interesting products during the early days of Microsoft, surrounded by innovative ideas. He proposed creating a laptop but was laughed at by company leaders. Despite being a military man and not an engineer, he introduced groundbreaking concepts like laptops.

Challenges and Controversies Alina discovered cancer at 29 years old but survived due to early detection. Later on, Alen left Microsoft after disagreements with Bill over share ownership. Tim Paterson's work on operating systems faced controversy regarding similarities to CPM system.