How would you change Microsoft if you were Bill Gates?

Being that it is Bill's special day and all, we figured we'd give you a shot at stepping into his shoes and shaping Microsoft into something even more dominant that the juggernaut it is. Just imagine taking a seat in the biggest corner office Redmond has to offer, getting your Outlook set up, fiddling through a mess of old floppy discs and finally conjuring up a business plan. How in the world would you tweak / overhaul / etc. Microsoft if you were suddenly dubbed the big kahuna? We know this one's wide (and we mean gaping wide) open, so feel free to write a book down there.

[Stewart @ Jun 27th 2008 7:18PM]

Start using a MacBook?

[Sergio @ Jun 27th 2008 7:39PM]

That Sucked dude.

[pina @ Jun 27th 2008 7:50PM]

So does your use of capitalization.

[tatarynowicz @ Jun 27th 2008 9:08PM]

I like Vista more than XP, sorry.

[mattattaxx @ Jun 27th 2008 9:37PM]

Wow, idontbelievethis might be the biggest mac fanboy ever. Get over yourself, bud.

[nerdtalker @ Jun 27th 2008 9:53PM]

@IDONTBELIEVETHIS:

TL;DR.

[Ignatius @ Jun 27th 2008 10:43PM]

Holy block of text.

[deyanimay @ Jun 27th 2008 10:43PM]

WTF do you think p.c. stands for retard?
It's an f-ing personal computer so if you think your mac is not a p.c. it must be because either a.) Its not personal or b.) its not a computer but a pile of electronic shit

[d @ Jun 27th 2008 10:52PM]

know what? i'm a mac guy. but honestly, the dude' retiring from his company. I would love to put the mac-pc debate aside just for one day. then tomorrow, macs/pc's can be better again.

Same goes for when Stevie J retires!

[Mark @ Jun 27th 2008 11:18PM]

Dear lord, I'm a mac fanboy, and even I think IDONTBELIEVETHIS is a retard.

[007bond @ Jun 27th 2008 11:50PM]

@d

well said, im an apple fanboy too (almost, i want a mac but stuck with a pc till i get enough for an iMac 24inch) but bill should be left alone, its his last day

[phanbouy @ Jun 28th 2008 1:49AM]

@IDONTHATETEHCAPSLOCK:

TL;DR except for the last sentence: "all the posters here are P.C. ppl so I expect extreme amount of hate coming this way but it is what it is and I wont check for replies anyway so whatever"

you're wrong about that. you also fail really damn hard.

[Mike @ Jun 28th 2008 3:11AM]

@ I Don't Believe This

I think your argument is flawed. The Mac>Windows process speed argument isn't true and hasn't been since Apple switched to Intel's Core 2 line from IBM's PowerPC processors. Other than that, it just has to do with process order. As far as the Vista vs. XP war goes, it's not that Vista is a bad operating system, it's that developers don't like it because it's so boiled down and upgraders dont like that they changed the locations and names of things. I'm certain that if a user started on Vista and then went to XP, they would be on Vista's side.

[ShadowKain @ Jun 28th 2008 11:19PM]

IDONTBELIEVETHIS: get a life...wow

[ShadowKain @ Jun 28th 2008 11:25PM]

What I would if I were Gates? Focus on function over glitz and glamour. Vista is fine, im using it right now, but for the business world and overall majority it isn't exactly the cup of tea it was sent out to be. That said, I dont believe Windows 7 will achieve much better. I keep hearing it will be a Vista look alike with tweaks. Get back to the roots MS....get rid of the turdy registry and revamp the OS. Start from scratch. and to IDONTBELIEVETHIS....get a life, if you wanted to be a MAC fanboy go to their forums not here. MAC's are neat machines, but until they release their IRON GRIP on their hardware so we can actually make machines with OS X ( a la Pystar Open PC)....and get rid of Tyrant Master Overlord Steve Jooooooooobies.....MAC will be second. The seed was planted long ago, and it takes more than moving a few machines and a new OS to beat out a long time giant like Mircosoft. not for a long time yet....

[ed @ Jun 27th 2008 7:18PM]

Refund everybody that bough Vista with a FREE copy of XP.

[roach @ Jun 27th 2008 8:45PM]

nah... l keep my Vista.

[maveric101 @ Jun 28th 2008 12:20AM]

i don't know why people are beating up on Vista. I actually LIKE Vista, more than XP, and have zero problems with it.

[JMMGoalster @ Jun 28th 2008 1:29AM]

Agreed. Although I still can't wait for Windows 7....I'm a sucker for new OS's

[PGP-Protector @ Jun 27th 2008 7:20PM]

I'd add a hidden app so every time someone starts bashing Microsoft while using a Microsoft product it would add that the user is a hypocrite to there post :)

[Chris @ Jun 27th 2008 8:55PM]

I would add a good system-wide grammar checker to Windows so people would stop using "there" when they should say "their".

[John @ Jun 27th 2008 7:21PM]

Get a good haircut.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 27th 2008 8:15PM]

Microsoft is bald.

[Blackstar @ Jun 27th 2008 8:43PM]

No, they just have issues with their Hair/Rogaine®/Install.exe files. I'm sure it will be fixed in the next service pack.

[tatarynowicz @ Jun 27th 2008 9:13PM]

Apple is gay.

[John @ Jun 27th 2008 9:39PM]

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[pelo8280 @ Jun 27th 2008 11:36PM]

Microsoft isn't bald, just Steve Balmer

[MrGam3r @ Jun 28th 2008 1:48AM]

Hmm. Steve 'Baldmer'.

Sorry. Couldn't resist. =)

[Matthew @ Jun 27th 2008 7:21PM]

First thing i would do is get rid of that atrocious IE and Outlook, and get some GMail and Firefox going... then maybe I would consider working towards a business plan

[The Dude @ Jun 27th 2008 7:28PM]

You fail at 2 levels:

1. You're probably confusing Outlook Express with Office Outlook.
2. Both of the aforementioned are e-mail clients, and not e-mail services.

For more in-depth information on how much you fail contact me at [e-mail] since according to you, Outlook is an e-mail service.

[caleb @ Jun 27th 2008 7:46PM]

OK - I may be gunning for an epic fail, but unless there is some invisible text, I don't see anywhere where he referred to Outlook as a service.

And therefore; barring an epic fail on my part; I declare this a fail on your part.

[Matthew @ Jun 27th 2008 7:54PM]

...you don't have to be such a dick about it. this is why i try to avoid adding to the comments on engadget, no matter what you say there's always some douche to correct you

...dick

[StrangeBum @ Jun 27th 2008 8:07PM]

Seriously, and you call yourself 'The Dude'?

Calm down, Walter!
I'm calmer than you are.

great movie though

[bjsguess @ Jun 27th 2008 8:10PM]

When you say something stupid expect people to call you out on it.

[The Dude @ Jun 27th 2008 8:44PM]

Aww see, now you've made The Dude feel like an asshole. That is so not The Dude's credo. Well, I'm sorry.

@Caleb: He mentioned IE & Outlook vs. Firefox & Gmail. That comparison means that either Gmail is an e-mail client or Outlook is an e-mail service. None of which is correct. You access services such as Gmail through clients such as Outlook.

I probably could've been nicer about it, so yeah. I said I was sorry.

[RobScheflo @ Jun 27th 2008 9:47PM]

Gmail is not only a service but a web client. I think he ment Put in a Gmail app?

[Matthew @ Jun 27th 2008 10:01PM]

I wasn't saying that Gmail completely replaces Outlook, just saying i would be using Gmail instead, didn't mean to cause so much confusion

[Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jun 27th 2008 11:07PM]

You're all missing the point: you don't have to get rid of Outlook and IE if you have gmail and firefox. You simply choose to use the better programs. If you mean firefox (with gmail set as the default homepage) should be preloaded then yes, I suppose I could do with saving a few minutes by not downloading and installing FF after a fresh Windows install.

[Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jun 27th 2008 11:09PM]

You're all missing the point: you don't have to get rid of Outlook and IE if you have gmail and firefox. You simply choose to use the better programs. If you mean firefox (with gmail set as the default homepage) should be preloaded then yes, I suppose I could do with saving a few minutes downloading and installing FF after a fresh Windows install.

[phanbouy @ Jun 28th 2008 2:04AM]

"Why do have to cuss so much?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Ok Dude, have it your way"

[Tim @ Jun 29th 2008 2:42AM]

There's this fancy thing now called POP3 which allows you to access your Gmail with Outlook, and everyone uses Firefox anyways... (except now I'm starting to use Safari instead because the Firefox Beta is SOOOOO slow and buggy..)

[Jherez @ Jun 28th 2008 1:48PM]

You know I may be wrong but this thought just came to me. If a web browser isn't bundled with the system how would you go and download your preferred browser?

[Sudo @ Jun 27th 2008 7:21PM]

Get rid of Ballmer.

[Andrew @ Jun 27th 2008 7:24PM]

Yes ! Kick Ballmer to the curb!

Then cut all the legacy crap out and start fresh with the next OS.

[gordo1111 @ Jun 27th 2008 8:00PM]

Ditto

[AJ in the East Bay @ Jun 27th 2008 8:31PM]

Count me in for another vote to get rid of Monkey Boy.

[Technex @ Jun 28th 2008 6:31AM]

Ditto.

[Fred @ Jun 28th 2008 2:57PM]

I would go further than just letting go of Ballmer. I say they need another technologist in the drivers seat, not another corporate MBA -- whose idea of "novel" tends to be "let's buy out this completely different company, and start making baskets too!" It's not just Ballmer who is the idiot -- it's this Wall Street centric view of what a corporation should be that ruins everything, including Microsoft.

They need tech strategy, not corporate strategy. They have obviously been in a bad corporate strategy loop ever since Windows 95.

[Thomas @ Jun 30th 2008 7:33AM]

No, Ballmer is funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvbWLfr-Z4s

[Chris Barker @ Jun 27th 2008 7:21PM]

get windows 7 out b4 every1 turns to a mac