Former Microsoft head Bill Gates wrote Apple CEO Steve Jobs a letter shortly before the latter's death, according to a report from UK newspaper The Telegraph. "I told Steve about how he should feel great about what he had done and the company he had built. I wrote about his kids, whom I had got to know," says Gates.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates talks briefly about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in a new Nightline interview on ABC, reports note. Gates comments, for instance, that it was strange for someone as "vibrant" as Jobs to die so relatively young. "It makes you feel like, 'Wow, we're getting old.' Yet you look back and think about the great opportunities we had," he says.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Bill Gates ruled out a rumored return to the helm of Microsoft. Gates, who is currently holidaying in Australia with his family, said that he has made the transition from running Microsoft to running the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation full-time. When asked about Steve Jobs and his criticism of Microsoft and Gates personally, Gates brushed the barbs off saying that Jobs was driven by the fact that Microsoft Windows-loaded computers outsold Macs.
Microsoft's decision to kill the Courier tablet came after a meeting with former CEO Bill Gates himself, according to a new leak on Tuesday. Not willing to decide on his own whether Microsoft should embrace the book-like Courier or a more conventional tablet, current CEO Steve Ballmer turned to a presentation with Gates judging a presentation by Courier architect J Allard, then Entertainment & Devices head Robbie Bach, and a pair of project engineers, CNET heard. Gates reportedly had a virtual "allergic reaction" when Allard revealed that the Courier's emphasis on drawing, note-taking, and other content plans meant it wouldn't have native e-mail or otherwise tap directly into the Office or Windows ecosystems.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in an interview with ABC on Sunday downplayed Steve Jobs' criticisms of him as published in Walter Isaacson's Jobs biography. Reacting to Jobs' claims that Gates was "unimaginative" and "weirdly flawed as a human being," Gates thought it was "very understandable" that Jobs felt the way he did. There were points at which the Mac's very existence was in doubt as its relatively high price and one main OEM had to compete against many Windows PC makers, suggesting a lot of pressure as well as a level of give and take in Jobs' views.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was highly respectful of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, an outtake from this Sunday's 60 Minutes special reveals. In a taped interview with biographer Walter Isaacson, Jobs expressed admiration for Zuckerberg's business acumen. "We talk about social networks in the plural," he said, "but I don’t see anybody other than Facebook out there. Just Facebook, they are dominating this. I admire Mark Zuckerberg...for not selling out, for wanting to make a company. I admire that a lot."
(Updated to downplay Baez's role) A partial list of the people present at Sunday's private memorial for Steve Jobs has been published, says Fortune. Among the people there were Apple executives Tim Cook (CEO) and Scott Forstall (senior VP for iOS), and board members Bill Campbell and Al Gore. Former US President Bill Clinton was also in attendance; one of the people most closely connected to Jobs, though, may have been singer Joan Baez, who once dated him during the late 1970s and early '80s.
(Update: Steve Ballmer has joined in) Condolences and tributes have continued to pour in following the tragic death of Steve Jobs. Apple posted a further statement on behalf of his family. His family, including wife Laurene and his four children, was appreciative of the support it was getting at a dark time.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has taken third place in a list of "Engineering Heroes" picked by UK engineering undergraduates. About 900 people in all were surveyed by General Electric. Jobs' selection is somewhat unusual in that the executive is not famous for his engineering skills; he is, however, known to be deeply involved in setting the design principles of Apple products, to the extent of controlling small details. His influence can be seen in devices such as the iMac, iPod and iPhone.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and chairman Bill Gates both argued against a shareholder's suggestion that it may be "time to consider breaking the company up." During a meeting with a number of shareholders, Ballmer proclaimed such a move would not be useful and might inadvertently lead to "economic dis-synergies."
With graduation season approaching TIME has taken the opportunity to release a list of the top 10 college dropouts. Names featured in the list include movie stars Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford, director James Cameron, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. Topping the list are technology innovators Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, both of whom spent short periods of time at a post-secondary institution before moving on to found Apple and Microsoft respectively. Since dropping out both Jobs and Gates have been invited back to universities to give commencement speeches, while Gates was even awarded with an honorary doctorate from Harvard.
Quickly confirming rumors, AllThingsD today said that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be a guest onstage at the D8 conference in early June. The executive's appearance is his first in three years and is one of his rare media events in recent years that won't have been directly under his control. No signs were given as to whether he would share the stage with anyone else.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in a new interview offered up mixed praise for the iPad. When asked his opinion, he said that "it's okay" and characterized it more as an attractive design than a truly useful product. He wasn't certain how it could be used compared to other computing devices.
Following the stir created by ex-Microsoft executive Dick Brass, who recently claimed the company had become an "uncompetitive innovator," attention has returned to internal e-mails that were made public during an antitrust lawsuit several years ago. The legal blog Groklaw has sifted through many of the documents, uncovering a message from 2003 showing Bill Gates' praise for Steve Jobs and iTunes.
Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, speaking on a Thursday-night CNBC program, is noted to have complimented Steve Jobs on his return to Apple, crediting him for effectively saving the company. Gates was on TV as part of a "Keeping America Great" town hall event, paired with billionaire investor Warren Buffett. One audience member asked Gates' opinion of Jobs, specifically in regards to the latter's contributions as a CEO.
At an employee event held today, Bill Gates said farewell to the company he co-founded back in 1975. Gates will move from one giant to another, as he will turn his focus on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the world's largest charity. Reports say Gates and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer delivered speeches to the assembled employees and press, each choking back tears as they spoke.
Microsoft is preparing to unveil a vertically-oriented, wall-mountable version of its Surface multitouch computing system, which the company calls TouchWall. PC World writes that Microsoft's Research and Office Labs department developed a prototype for the technology, citing that it is ideal for board rooms or other locations where interactive presentations are given. TouchWall uses integrated hardware, which includes laser and infrared lights which pick up touches to the display, through the embedded Plex software.
