WEBVTT - The Microsoft Story Part Two 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.200 Get in Touch with Technology was text Stuff from how 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:14.600 Stuff Works dot Com. Here everyone, and welcome to Text Stuff. 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.920 I'm Jonathan Strickland, and we're going to bring to you 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:22.720 the second part of our episodes on Microsoft and just 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:26.200 kind of the Microsoft story and how it developed as 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:28.840 a company and the big things that shaped it and 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.280 the big things that did to shape the industry, right, 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.640 going from three to over ninety thousand employees in the 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.440 course of just a couple of decades. Yep. And we 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:41.400 stopped last time at nine when Bill Gates and Melinda 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.920 French tied the knot. So we're picking up with nineteen, 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:51.519 which was a big year. Big year they released Windows 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.480 shockingly enough, yes, And for those of you who can 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.240 remember the commercials back then, these, of course were the 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:01.040 ones that featured the Little Band and from across the 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:07.080 Pond called the Rolling Stones that did a song called 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.440 start Me Up. And it's because Windows introduced a new 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.280 feature to Windows but the start button, which uh, some 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:16.720 people didn't care for it first. Um. It's kind of 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:20.959 funny how technology works. Usually a change gets rolled out, 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:25.400 everyone reacts like it's the end of the world, and 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.160 then within a few years they count on whatever it 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:30.320 is that was changed, and then it gets changed again, 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:32.000 and then they act like it's the end of the world, 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.080 Rinse and repeat. We see this usually at a very 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:41.679 frequent basis with Facebook redesigns. Um so Windows showed a 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:46.119 lot of new develops, new features that some people kind 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.840 of balked at at first. But Kates sent out a 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.160 memo that same year he was seeing that there was 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:55.920 a new trend coming up. And this keep in mind 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.480 ninety This is again a couple of years after the 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:02.680 Worldwide Web start to develop, a couple of years since 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.840 the general public has become aware of a thing called 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.800 the Internet. The Internet itself had been around since the eighties, 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.280 but very few people knew about it until right around 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.680 this time, and he sit on a memo called the 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.359 Internet tidal Wave to the senior staff of Microsoft, and 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.640 he said that he thought that the Internet would be 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.880 the most important thing for the company to concentrate on, 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:27.560 and that in fact, was going to be the most 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.360 important development since the advent of the PC. Yeah. So, uh, 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:33.600 it turns out that, you know, he's very he was 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.080 very much right. Uh. It was an early call to make, 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:39.440 but he saw it. You know, he read a little 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.359 bit of criticism that he could have jumped on that 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.280 a little bit earlier. Yeah, it's actually yeah, the biggest 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.040 criticism is that he waited too long for this, and uh, 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:50.959 in fact, you could since this is after the World 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.280 Wide Web has become a thing, you could see why. 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:56.160 I mean, this is before they've had their own web browser, 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:59.320 so there's no browser. I believe that the summer of 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:01.760 that year was when first version of I e. Internet 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:05.799 Explorer was released, So yeah, but when we're finally getting there, 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:09.320 whereas like everyone else is dependent upon other browsers from 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:11.440 other companies and Microsoft could have been on the ground 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.600 floor earlier. But at the same time, he definitely saw 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.440 that this was going to be something that Microsoft could 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.800 not ignore and that that sort of set the company 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:22.760 in motion to really think about how they were going 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:27.000 to approach the Internet, and they actually held Internet Strategy Day, 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:32.240 so hooray for that. Also the same year that Forbes 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.600 said that Gates is no longer the richest man in America, 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:39.280 he is the richest man. They were German apparently that year, 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.800 but I don't know why I said it that way, 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.080 But yes, in the world, in the entire world, Bill 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:48.320 Gates richest man, and it's a title that he retains 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:50.880 until two thousand and eight, when he lost it in 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:55.200 a battle royal against Randy Macho Man Savage. I would 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.520 watch that, I would watch that. I made that part up, 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.400 but yes, he did hold the title of richest man 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.280 in the world from nine to two eight h less successfully. 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.280 It's also the year that he announced one of your 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:11.600 favorite bits of Microsoft history. All right, Bob, Microsoft Bob, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.600 Microsoft Bob. We did a full episode about Microsoft Bob, 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:17.440 and really I meant to say this in the last episode. 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:19.040 A lot of the stuff we're talking about, we could 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.400 clearly do a full podcast on just any of these. 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:26.120 Oh absolutely, We've done full podcasts on on versions of Windows, 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:30.440 much less on the Windows operating system itself, and uh, 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.640 you know, we could. We have done a full episode 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:34.520 on Bob. So we won't go over it again other 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.320 than to say it was and a special type of 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:42.280 graphic user interface designed for people who were not at 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:44.520 all familiar with computers, and it was meant to make 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:48.520 it a much more welcoming, intuitive experience. But just go 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.280 back and listen to that episode to learn how it 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:55.680 wounded up. It wounded it wound up being extremely unsuccessful 0:04:56.240 --> 0:05:00.560 and kind of play cating in a way. It just 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.120 wasn't it just was. It was just a massive failure. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:08.320 It was a massive failure, and it had some terrible features, 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.840 including a security feature that did not work. So um 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:16.680 but but yeah, as as of as, Microsoft's overall revenue 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:19.240 was five point nine billion and the company had over 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:23.920 seventod employees, so they were doing all right. So by 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.719 Microsoft releases explore three point oh, so they have really 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:34.360 gotten into the browser biz at this point, and three 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.799 point I was really kind of the first consumer based 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.600 browser that people really get a chance to see. Netscape, 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:45.240 which was the company behind another browser called Navigator, send 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.360 a little message to the United States Department of Justice 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.800 to say, um, Microsoft's kind of being unfair. They're essentially, 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.160 uh saying that since we're the ones who's provided the 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:00.000 operating system to all these different computers that various manufacturers 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:04.320 are building, maybe you should include our web browser and 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.800 not include anyone else's web browser. So, in other words, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.240 they were saying that they were being anti competitive. They 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.840 were using their influence as an operating system designer to 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:21.400 muscle out other browsers, including Navigator, and so uh, this 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.440 starts another round of investigations from the Department of Justice 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:32.880 into Microsoft's business practices. On July fifteenth, ms NBC debuts. 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:36.440 So that's a news network. It was a partnership between 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:40.640 NBC News and Microsoft, and at first it wasn't a 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.160 twenty four hour news channel. It would eventually become that, 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.000 but at the time it had a certain block of 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.560 hours that were available on a per day basis, and 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.000 it would grow from there and it became sort of 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:56.480 a competitor to companies like CNN. UH. And then that's 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.920 the same year that Microsoft stock split. Again we're doing 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.960 so well that, Yeah, and they also launched Windows CE. 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.760 Now whendows CE is different from the other operating systems 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.040 that we're talking about here. This was one that was 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.640 designed to work on devices that had minimal storage. So 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:18.000 this would become the foundation for future operating systems built 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:23.040 for mobile devices. UH, particularly the pocket PC, which I 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:27.040 have fond memories of reading about. I never actually owned one, 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.679 but it was one of those devices that was ahead 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:34.320 of its time. Pocket PC was sort of the precursor 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.040 to the tablet computers that we use today, but the 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:43.640 implementation was never quite such that it would resonate with consumers, 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.480 so people didn't didn't buy them, is what I'm getting too. 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:49.680 But when does CE was like that, that was sort 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:51.320 of the that was the operating system that kind of 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.520 started down this this branch in the evolutionary secure and 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.720 it was around that time. And I don't have specific 0:07:57.800 --> 0:07:59.480 notes about this, but but correct me if I'm wrong. 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.800 That add that like palm pilot and other mobile devices 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:06.280 were starting to um personal digital assistants were starting to 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.440 pick up. This is this is really before smartphones had 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:15.080 started to become Yeah, there were a few early examples, 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.240 but really personal digital assistants were more common, and these 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.600 were devices that were very similar to smartphones, just without 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.840 the phone part. They were able to run applications, they 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:29.800 could hold your contact information, but they weren't smartphones yet. Really, 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.199 the problem was that that that wireless technology had an 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.520 advanced to the point where it was useful. Yeah, I mean, 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:38.200 you could get basic information like text information, but anything 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:44.800 like more, anything beyond some text was gonna be it 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:46.640 was gonna take you a while to receive it on 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:51.959 these old cellular networks. In seven, they released Internet Explorer 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:56.559 four point oh and also they released Office, which was 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.719 another one of those product productivity software suites, and the 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:05.560 company acquired another company called Interse Corporation, which made analysis 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.200 software for web activity. So this is again the company 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:13.000 following through on that that memo that Bill Gates and 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.200 saying we need to focus on the Internet. That's where 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:19.600 our future business is going to be. Uh. They also 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:23.719 agreed to acquire web TV Networks for about four d 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.959 twenty five million dollars in stock in cash. Web Tv 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.760 I remember web Tv had a friend who actually had 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.719 web TV, So this was a way of accessing the 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:36.679 World Wide Web on a television. You would get a 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.679 remote control that was essentially a keyboard, and um didn't 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.679 really do so well, as I recall. I mean, apart 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:49.600 from my friend, I don't know anyone who used web TV. Sure, sure, 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:51.800 well this was I mean, you know, it was a 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.280 kind of prescient move on behalf of of of everyone involved, 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.040 UM because you know, again they there wasn't an of 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.080 an Internet connection for people to really Um yeah, they's 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.200 some find it useful yet. But but it was also 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:09.920 coming on the tail end of um that Telecommunications Act 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:15.480 that looped internet services in with cable services and allowed 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.400 a lot of partnerships to start developing. And it's a 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:23.559 good example was the partnership that Microsoft entered into with Comcast. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.400 They put invested one billion dollars for about eleven and 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.880 a half percent ownership in Comcast to help deploy high 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:34.559 speed data and video services. Now, this was in Microsoft's 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:36.959 best interests as well as Comcast. The idea being that 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.640 we need to build out this infrastructure because the Internet 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:42.240 is getting more and more important, but in order for 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:46.040 it to be useful, we need to increase bandwidth and accessibility. 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.800 You know, the more customers have access to the Internet, 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.480 the more product we can sell. So therefore, this makes 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:56.280 sense from a business perspective. Um. And they also invested 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.679 a hundred fifty million dollars in another company that might 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:00.680 surprise you considering the fact that they had a little 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:04.760 kerfuffle in our last episode, Apple back back in with 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.880 Apple to another software development deal for Apple platforms. And uh, 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:11.800 that's when Bill Gates announced the formation of the Gates 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.520 Library Foundation. Of this was a predecessor to some of 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:19.080 the philanthropic organizations that Bill and will Inde Gates would 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.520 launch in the future, right right. Uh. This was also 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:23.840 the year that the Department of Justice announced its intent 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:29.840 to hold Microsoft and contempt of the decree that they 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.040 had agreed to UMI, which which was one of those 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.280 antitrust decrees which you can go back and hear a 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:39.240 little bit about in the previous episode. Uh but but 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.240 but I mean to the tune of like a million 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:47.000 dollars per day. Yeah, until contempt, they stopped bundling I e. 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:51.559 With their oating operating system. This was this was a 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:55.560 big deal. I remember this unfolding at the time when uh, um, 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:57.880 you know, I I had entered into the workforce at 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.160 this point, and I just remember following it and and 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:06.880 being kind of uh knowing the basic details. But it's 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:10.200 really in retrospect, being able to look at it more thoroughly, 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:16.240 you really can see how without this intervention the landscape 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:19.000 would be very different right now as far as the 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.719 way the Internet and the way browsers work. That was 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:26.520 the same year that Microsoft also acquired hot Mail, which 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:30.000 of course is a web based email service. Hotmail existed 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.520 for quite some time. It does technically still exist, although 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:37.199 now it is officially part of Outlook dot com, so 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.000 it's part of the web based Outlook sweet as opposed 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.920 to its own Hotmail thing. I still have a hotmail address. 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.240 I never had a hotmail address. I shot it, well, 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.319 did you have a yellhoo? Man? I still have? I 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:58.160 still have. I can't really complain, but no, I have 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.040 a I have a hotmail address. That the only reason 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.640 I haven't just completely told people to stop using it 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.080 because there's there's like three people who know me who's 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:12.400 still send me messages via hotmail, and I like to 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:14.160 pretend that I care about what they have to say, 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:20.760 so I keep it going. That's when things things get real, yo. Yeah. Yeah. 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.920 The The official UH anti test lawsuit against Microsoft was 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:28.800 filed by the Department of Justice and twenty state attorneys 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.880 general in the United States. They file an anti competitive 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.880 lawsuit against Microsoft. That's also the same year that Microsoft 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:39.000 launched Windows and also the year that they decided to 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:41.840 do away with the office of the President. Now, if 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:46.559 you remember from our last episode, Microsoft had originally Bill 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.240 Gates had served as the president of Microsoft for a while, 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.439 and then they got some presidents from other companies to 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.240 come in and become the president of Microsoft, and then 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.439 they switched to this the strategy of having an office 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.959 of the President, where the the UH the duties of 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:03.800 the president were split into three roles, and so three 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.280 different executives held positions within the office of the President 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.840 rather than having a single president. This is when they 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.240 go back to having a single president, and that first 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:18.920 single president is Balmer. Steve Bomber becomes president of Microsoft. 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.920 Bill Gates remains on as chairman and CEO. And uh So, 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:26.160 now the corporate structure has changed again, and this would 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.240 be the way that the corporate structure would remain for 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:34.920 about ten years more or less. Uh. Spoiler alert, please 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.320 stay tuned for the exciting conclusion because we've got a 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:42.640 lot to say. Uh. That's also when Microsoft launched MSN Search, 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.600 which was a web based search engine. This is what 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.520 would eventually turn into what we now know as Yeah, 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.400 I'm glad you said I didn't have to. Um, it's 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:58.760 perfectly legitimate web search engine. Even if being itself is 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:02.320 not a cromulent word, but it's a it's a it 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:05.560 works well. I have no complaints against the way being works. 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:07.960 I still tend to use Google more frequently, but I 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:14.640 don't have anything against being. Um N Okay, So when 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:20.880 something really bad happened, uh and I did. This was 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:25.320 a virus that broke out so virus called the Melissa 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:30.760 virus ran rampant across the Internet. Now, this virus was, 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:35.520 in the grand scheme of things, not that malicious and 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.120 that it didn't try to break your computer necessarily or 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.800 wipe out all your data, although you know, you could 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.280 always tweak the malware to make it do worse things 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:47.240 than what it was designed to do. What it was 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.080 designed to do was really just copy itself and send 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.880 itself to other computers within a person's contact list. And 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:58.080 it worked within Microsoft Word or Microsoft Outlook, and it 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.000 exploited vulnerabilities there. So if you were to try and 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.880 open this document either in that Look or in Word, 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.680 what it would then do is copy itself and mail 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.920 itself out to all of the contacts that you had. 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.000 So if this hit an executive who happened to have 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:19.720 hundreds of business contacts in their Outlook, that's that email 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:22.360 would go out to hundreds of people, and uh, the 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.560 email traffic alone ended up bogging down parts of the 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:31.880 Internet during this also really kind of open people's eyes 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.960 to the fact that some that that a lot of 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:38.600 the software we depend upon heavily from Microsoft could have 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.160 vulnerabilities in it, and that if you were to exploit 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:43.880 those vulnerabilities, you could cause quite a bit of damage. 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:46.320 It was not the first example of a computer virus 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:48.200 by a long shot, no, but it was kind of 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.080 the most propagated at the time. And also, um, it 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.080 received you know, the the internet was was really in 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.640 the news at this point where everyone was very excited 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.440 about what was going on. It was right before that, um, 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.440 that dot com crash and um, and so it was 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:03.640 it was really big. Yeah. Yeah, this is a point 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.040 where you know, we've finally gotten beyond just the college 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.600 students and nerds who know what the Internet is. Right. 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.040 So I was both a college student and nerd in 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:14.919 the early days of the Internet, so I was doubly 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:17.920 aware of it. But this is the point where you 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.280 would say things like, oh, you know, my parents know 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:23.399 what the internet is because it's gotten that big. So 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:26.399 when a virus hits, and a virus spreads this quickly, 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:29.000 it's one of those black eyes against the Internet, it's 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.240 a black eye against Microsoft. This was this was just 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.399 bad news for the company. Sure, although that was the 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.520 year that Microsoft stock value peaked for all time on 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.399 December at a round fifty nine dollars per share. Now 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:46.280 keep in mind with whenever the stock splits, the value 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.159 of the stock goes down, but the value of the 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:52.200 company remains the same because you've added more stock. So 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.480 this is not to say that the value of the 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.840 company has decreased over time since then, rather than just 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.840 the price of the shares, the individual will shares themselves. 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:05.000 Because it gets kind of complicated. But so, yeah, that 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.840 was a big year for Microsoft, and not because of 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.720 product releases. It was just because of the way the 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.440 business was going and also this this virus outbreak. The 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.159 year two thousand, however, was a big year for product releases. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.840 It was that was when that was when Windows two 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:24.640 thousand again shocking that those numbers lineup like that was debuted. Yeah, 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:30.000 Windows two thousand Professional and server business os, very snappy name. 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.000 And also that's the year that Microsoft celebrated its twenty 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:37.200 fifth anniversary. Uh. They also unveiled the dot net platform 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.680 for web services, and that was the year that you know, 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:43.000 I kind of lied when I said that Bomber became 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.280 president and Gates remained chairman and then that would remain 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.000 the same till two thousand eight. Not entirely true actually, 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:51.760 because Bomber then stepped into the role of CEO, and 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:55.640 Gates became the chief software architect for Microsoft. I think 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.879 most people still viewed Gates as being kind of the 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:03.800 leader of Microsoft, especially when you consider that at big 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.159 events like ce S it's always the personality I mean, 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.760 was always quiet and well, okay, now that's quite the 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:16.679 wrong word. You're very correct. Developers, developers, developers, developers, developers. 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.040 Do a search, folks, you've heard me say it before. 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:21.200 If you have not seen it, go to YouTube. Type 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:24.399 in Steve Bomber developers and you can see. Now. Remember, 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.400 Bomber comes from this from a salesman kind of perspective. 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.280 Dude gets pretty loud if he wants to be. But 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.640 but your point being that he was not the kind 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.920 of the voice of leadership for excellent reasons. He was 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:42.560 not really the personality that was driving Microsoft. Yeah, he's 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:48.040 definitely a very savvy businessman, extremely savvy businessman. That's also 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.560 year that the Department of Justice Judge Jackson ruled that 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.400 Microsoft should be split into two units. That that's why 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.400 today we have two different companies of Microsoft. Why Microsoft 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.840 cannot be us Wait this was struck down later on. 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:05.199 But but but yeah, but the concept was to Uh, 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.160 to have one half that would be doing the operating 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.960 systems and the other half with what with a software, 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:13.760 other software, other types of software besides operating system Yeah. 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.600 He Jackson, Judge Jackson actually said that Microsoft was an 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:23.879 abusive monopoly and uh, like like Lawrence said, this decision 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.680 would eventually be overturned. It's so. So that's why there's 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.800 not like two different versions of Microsoft out there, one 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.200 just doing Windows and the other one doing everything else. 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:37.600 Revenues from Microsoft that year hit two d twenty nine 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:43.399 billion dollars with over thousand employees. That's a lot of employees. 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.760 And that's when Bill and Melinda Gates launched the Bill 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.960 and Melinda Gates Foundation. It's also when Microsoft acquired a 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.760 company called Video Corporation, So those of you who are 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:57.680 familiar with videos products that that will ring a bell. 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:01.720 And Microsoft introduced the Pocket p SEE two thousand, and 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:04.800 that's the the one that had an operate system that 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:07.359 was based on Windows CE and the operating system on 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.280 the Pocket PC two thousand would evolve into what would 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:14.760 become Windows Mobile, which has we could do a full 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.640 episode just on Windows Mobile as well, because that's that's 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.720 one of those upbring system stories that has its own, 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:26.159 uh interesting rise and fall narrative. Um, of course Windows 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:29.280 Mobile not a thing anymore. Uh that instead we have 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:31.520 Windows Phone. I'll talk about that in a little bit. 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:34.000 But in two thousand one, that's when the Court of 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:37.720 Appeal overturned Judge Jackson's decision to break Microsoft up into 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:41.560 two corporations. They but the Court of Appeal did say 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:45.640 that the company legally illegally used licensing agreements to lock 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:49.679 out Netscape from computer manufacturers. Right right. Microsoft ends up 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:54.080 settling by agreeing to to disclose its application programming interfaces 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:58.560 with third party software companies. So that that was the 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:03.960 resolution to that very long process of investigation and litigation. 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:10.320 Microsoft that same year launched Windows XP, which two one 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:14.840 Windows XP launches, and it was an incredibly popular operating system, 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:17.399 so much so that there's probably some machines here in 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.200 this office that are still running Windows XP. I was 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:26.480 running Windows XP personally until Yeah, well, I was running 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:30.399 Windows XP on my work computer until I destroyed I 0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:32.760 don't know, maybe three computers ago. I've gone through a 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:34.720 lot of computers while I'm here at now stuff works. 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:40.120 I'm a little hard shocking. Yeah, well I did seem Yeah, well, 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:42.760 I take it out on the machine, so when the 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:49.439 machines rise up, I'll be first. Yeah. So Office XP 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:51.960 also launched that year, which was another one of those 0:22:52.040 --> 0:22:55.240 Office Suite updates, right and uh and yeah, so the 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:59.679 Windows XP is up becoming So it's such a strong 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:03.720 rule lease that it would actually cause Microsoft some problems 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:05.760 down the line when they tried to move to the 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:10.440 next generation of operating systems. Um. But this was also 0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:13.879 a year that was very important for both Microsoft and 0:23:14.040 --> 0:23:18.280 for Lauren and myself, for me specifically two thousand one, 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:23.119 that is the year Microsoft launched the Xbox, the Xbox 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:26.240 that's and and one of the launched titles for Xbox 0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:31.280 was Halo. Halo, Yes, yes, so the video game that 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:34.159 Lauren and I both share a deep and abiding love for. 0:23:35.240 --> 0:23:37.800 And I don't think I played it until two actually, yeah, 0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:39.200 well that was one of the It was one of 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:41.720 the earliest titles for the Xbox was was Halo, and 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:44.440 it was one of the most successful. I mean clear, 0:23:44.560 --> 0:23:46.919 Halo originally was developed as a game that was going 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:49.880 to be on the Macintosh or the mac computer at 0:23:49.960 --> 0:23:52.480