Bill Gates entered the 1990’s on an upswing. The
Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS), had
held a commanding share of the personal computer
market and made him a billionaire. However, MS-
DOS was clumsy and difficult to use, requiring users
to memorize arcane commands. The success of rival
Apple Computer’s Macintosh operating system
(Mac OS), with its graphical interface and desktop
metaphor, put the dominance of DOS in peril. The
only thing that prevented a wholesale exodus by
DOS users was the stiff price tag Apple put on its pro-
prietary equipment.
As a result, Gates had Microsoft working on a new,
more user-friendly interface. The earliest versions of
the Windows OS had come out in the late 1980’s, but
these were shell programs that offered users simpli-
fied options. The windows did not overlap, as they
did on the Mac OS, and the user’s ability to manipu-
late the icons was very limited. Even Windows 3.0, re-
leased in 1990, was mocked by Macintosh users for
failing to deliver a Mac-like interface.
In 1995, Gates announced Windows 95, a truly
Mac-like operating system. However, Apple re-
sponded with a lawsuit, which absorbed consider-
able amounts of Gates’s attention and energy until a
judge ruled that both companies had derived their
ideas from the work of Xerox’s Palo
Alto Research Center. The lawsuit
also brought attention to certain
practices Microsoft used to secure its
hold on market share.
In 1997, Gates worked out a deal
with Apple cofounder and chief ex-
ecutive officer Steve Jobs to cooper-
ate in the computer business. By sav-
ing Microsoft’s principal rival from
going under, Gates ostensibly gained
protection from antitrust suits. How-
ever, in 1998 the U.S. Department of
Justice and twenty states filed a suit
against Microsoft for monopolistic
practices, including the bundling of
its Windows OS with its Web browser,
Internet Explorer.
Gates also began to examine his
life and his role in his business. He
delegated executive power of Micro-
soft to others while concentrating on
keeping his company innovative. He
wrote books about the future of busi-
ness computers. Most important, he started a family,
marrying Melinda French on January 1, 1994. In
2000, they created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foun-
dation to perform charitable works.Impact Bill Gates became inextricably linked in
the public mind with the Windows operating system
and with Microsoft’s heavy-handed business prac-
tices. However, he also became a powerful philan-
thropist in the early twenty-first century, helping to
bring attention to and reduce inequities in the world
through his foundation, the largest charitable orga-
nization in the world.Further Reading
Leibovich, Mark.The New Imperialists: How Five Rest-
less Kids Grew Up to Virtually Rule Your World. Upper
Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Wallace, James, and Jim Erickson.Hard Drive: Bill
Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire. New
York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992.
Leigh Husband KimmelSee also Apple Computer; Business and the econ-
omy in the United States; Computers; Jobs, Steve;
Microsoft; Science and technology.The Nineties in America Gates, Bill 355
Microsoft founder Bill Gates.(AP/Wide World Photos)