Bill Gates on Chrome OS and browsers

Advertisement (Why?)

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has revealed that he is "surprised people are acting like there's something new" in Google's recently announced Chrome operating system, during an interview with CNET News.

Just yesterday Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer also seemed to dismiss Chrome OS, although both Ballmer and Gates admitted that with Google saying so little about their latest project it is hard to know exactly what it will be and therefore discuss it in detail. "In any case, you should make them be concrete about what they're doing," Gates said in regards to the lack of information. "It is kind of a typical thing. When Google is doing anything it gets this - the more vague they are, the more interesting it is."

"[T]here's many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there, and packaged in different ways, and booted in different ways. So I don't know anything in particular about what Google is doing," the former Microsoft CEO said, going on to mention Google's Android mobile operating system as his successor also did yesterday, "in some ways I'm surprised people are acting like there's something new. I mean, you've got Android running on Netbooks; it's got a browser in it."

With their Chrome OS, Google is expected to give more focus to the browser with it taking on several aspects usualy attributed to the operating system. Microsoft has also been researching similar ideas. In regards to this Gates said, "It just shows the word browser has become a truly meaningless word. Anyway, what's a browser, what's not a browser? If you're playing a movie, is that a browser or not a browser? If you're doing annotations is that a browser or not a browser? If you're editing text, is that a browser or not a browser? In large part it's more an abuse of terminology than a real change."

Gates also had some comments on how he feels Microsoft is doing in his absence. "I'm always the one who thinks, gosh, why isn't Microsoft doing even more, because that's been my mindset, let's move fast, do new things very quickly," Gates said, "But, you have to say, whether it's Windows 7 that is a really excellent piece of work. I'd go so far as to say both compared to other operating systems, and compared to other generations of Windows, it's an extremely nice piece of work."

In regards to Microsoft Office, Gates said, "there's a lot about the new version that will get talked about in the next nine months or so." He also commented about Bing, saying, "people see Bing as a nice piece of work, really see us in the game, hiring really top people, and willing to try to do things some different ways."

(10 replies) #1 Ridlas on 15 Jul 2009 - 19:39

someones jealous

#1.1 Harbinger on 15 Jul 2009 - 19:47

Ridlas said,

Yes, you of his monies.

#1.2 m.keeley on 15 Jul 2009 - 21:06

Very much doubt it.

#1.3 liberatus_sum on 15 Jul 2009 - 21:42

+1

So true

#1.4 outofcoffee on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:03

Harbinger said,

Ha. +1

#1.5 Lechio on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:34

Haha. +1

#1.6 Majesticmerc on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:52

Jealous of what? An operating system nobody actually has any information on?

Lets think about it. How much do we ACTUALLY KNOW about ChromeOS? We know it runs on netbooks, we know it will somehow revolve around Chrome, and thats about it.

#1.7 Jugalator on 15 Jul 2009 - 23:38

Ya ya!!

+1 +1 +1

#1.8 leojei on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:41

Jugalator said,

all it takes it to have someone like me to -100000000, there ;-)

"ChromeOS", let's see if "FirefoxOS" would create such a hype, or "OperaOS", or even "IEOS" (which would be the least anticipated).

It's not surprising if "ChromeOS" is a cloud OS; it's even boring if it's just another Linux; and other stuffs Google have yet to disclose are candidates of surprises.

I think it's fine for the Baldy (Ballmer) and non-Baldy (Gates) to laugh on what they know so far.

#1.9 Justin- on 16 Jul 2009 - 03:35

outofcoffee said,

+2 hahaha

#1.10 dimithrak on 16 Jul 2009 - 16:58

Justin- said,

-3 hahah

(25 replies) #2 cabron on 15 Jul 2009 - 19:48

Gates = Clown
Ballmer = Lunatic

Both are extremely out of touch with technology

#2.1 andrewbares on 15 Jul 2009 - 19:50

righttttt......um..no?

#2.2 hotdog963al on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:06

Agreed

#2.3 toadeater on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:10

cabron said,

Ballmer is a thug, and Gates is a ruthless businessman. And they're both very in touch with technology, don't kid yourself. What they have trouble with is convincing people to buy Microsoft knockoffs of innovative technology rather than the real thing. Honestly, how many innovative products has MS come up with in the past decade? MS has missed the boat on everything. That doesn't mean Gates is out of touch, it means MS is a bureaucracy.

#2.4 +majortom1981 on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:20

toadeater said,

No the problem is microsoft and their marketing. Bill gates stated that touch technology will be big when he introduced microsofts tablet initiative. ITs just that apple came along and marketed it better in their iphone.

Go look at microsofts research products. a lot of them hold a lot of promise. Microsoft just doesnt know how to market their products.

They also kill of their good products too soon. Example i still have one of their wireless routers. IT had one of the best signal reaches at the time and very easy to setup. They decided to stop making routers even though they were one of the best.

It all really comes down to theior marketing that stinks not their products.

#2.5 s3n4te on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:27

One word: NATAL.

#2.6 Ryanlm on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:32

Gates is not a clown, you need to go read your history, the stuff they did with Basic and the Altair still amazes me to this day.

Gates and Allen had neither an interpreter nor even an Altair system on which to develop and test one. However, Allen had written an Intel 8008 emulator for their previous venture, Traf-O-Data, that ran on a PDP-10 time-sharing computer. He adapted this emulator based on the Altair programmer guide, and they developed and tested the interpreter on Harvard's PDP-10. Harvard officials were not pleased when they found out, but there was no written policy that covered the use of this computer.[2] Gates and Allen bought computer time from a timesharing service in Boston to complete their BASIC. They hired Harvard student Monte Davidoff to write floating-point arithmetic routines for the interpreter, a feature not available in many of its competitors. The finished interpreter, including its own I/O system and line editor, fit in only four kilobytes of memory, leaving plenty of room for the interpreted program. In preparation for the demo, they stored the finished interpreter on a punched tape that the Altair could read and Paul Allen flew to Albuquerque. On final approach, Allen realized that they had forgotten to write a bootstrap program to read the tape into memory. Writing in 8080 machine language, Allen finished the program before the plane landed. Only when they loaded the program onto an Altair and saw a prompt asking for the system's memory size did Gates and Allen know that their interpreter worked on the Altair hardware. Later, they made a bet on who could write the bootstrap program first. Gates won.

How many of us can write something, never test it on the hardware, finish writing it on a plane, load it on to tape, feed it into a machine, one you have never had in your hands, and have it work the first time?

The man is amazing.

#2.7 C_Guy on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:52

Don't feed the troll, let him embarass himself.

Gates' vision is why there is a computer on every desk and in every home.

#2.8 m.keeley on 15 Jul 2009 - 21:07

And you're extremely out of touch with reality.

#2.9 liberatus_sum on 15 Jul 2009 - 21:52

Ryanlm said,

Erm.. Wasn't everyone doing this in the 70's/80's ?

The only thing bill gates will be remembered for will be the BSOD. This guy has contributed precisely zip to the computer world. BASIC is a child's toy, not a serious programming language.

#2.10 Lechio on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:37

liberatus_sum said,

I've used to do BASIC when I was ten.

#2.11 liberatus_sum on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:59

Lechio said,

No offense, but exactly

#2.12 Harbinger on 15 Jul 2009 - 23:36

Stop trolling every MS related thread. Don't you have enough apple ones to keep you distracted already?

But I'll be nice and feed you a bit. You seriously believe that Gates "contributed precisely zip to the computer world" ? This is the most ludicrous claim I've heard since like ever.

#2.13 simon360 on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:00

C_Guy said,

Gates' vision is why there is a computer on every desk and in every home.

You seriously attribute that to this one man?

#2.14 leojei on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:42

very true.

#2.15 leojei on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:43

(snipped)

and that's also why Win7 has so much better critics, some ppl will go beyond and say "ohh so this is just another Vista, but how come so many ppl like it and it's so damn fast?".

Last edited by rm20010 on 16 Jul 2009 - 03:11

#2.16 leojei on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:44

Let's have a mini-competition: I've used to do BASIC when I was eight.

#2.17 Ryanlm on 16 Jul 2009 - 02:57

Erm.. Wasn't everyone doing this in the 70's/80's ?

People were doing all sorts of thing, but this is one of those things that goes down as legendary. Gates has done more, did some stuff for Apple before the MS days kicked in, did some things Woz couldn't for them.

Most people back then had enough trouble trying to figure out the machine in front of them, let alone having to virtualize it, then right a command interpreter for it so the masses could make the computer do something. This was done with a manual about the machine.

BASIC is a child's toy, not a serious programming language.

By today's standard yes, back then it was a big deal. The alternative was programming in machine code, assembly. BASIC was a game changer.

#2.18 XeonBuilder on 16 Jul 2009 - 05:41

And Im sure that you made this post using some of his "out of touch" tech.

#2.19 ajua on 16 Jul 2009 - 07:21

The 1 million dollar question: What's the "real thing"?

#2.20 ufis on 16 Jul 2009 - 07:53

[/quote]

No the problem is microsoft and their marketing. Bill gates stated that touch technology will be big when he introduced microsofts tablet initiative. ITs just that apple came along and marketed it better in their iphone.

Go look at microsofts research products. a lot of them hold a lot of promise. Microsoft just doesnt know how to market their products.

They also kill of their good products too soon. Example i still have one of their wireless routers. IT had one of the best signal reaches at the time and very easy to setup. They decided to stop making routers even though they were one of the best.

It all really comes down to their marketing that stinks not their products.[/quote]

Give people what they think they need and can't live without. You could sell a turd if you know how to market.

#2.21 REM2000 on 16 Jul 2009 - 08:06

i wouldn't say it's a question of marketing the product, although that does figure into it. I would say Microsoft's chief problem is implementation. There is no way the iPhone would have sold as much as it did purely on marketing. It's how the iPhone is implemented. The same for the iPod, apple never said they invented the MP3 player, however they implemented it in an easy to use funcational device.

#2.22 Tommy DW on 16 Jul 2009 - 14:55

Good point but let me ask you this? who really cares?
I can see your another one of those smug Apple fanboys who likes to spread the Apple seed and try to get us to buy overpriced white plastic pieces of ****.

What does innovation have to do with this posting anyway? As always you fanboys always have to bring Apple in to the frame with your innovation crap and how steve jobs really is a god and not a lying cheating cum licking felching (look this up) homo.

Next time i suggest you stay within topic

#2.23 dimithrak on 16 Jul 2009 - 16:59

that just shows how ignorant you are..lol

#2.24 draklin on 16 Jul 2009 - 17:06

Wrong. Gate's vision is why there is a Windows based computer in most homes. Computers were coming no matter what. I guess you forgot about OS/2 Warp which may have been the main OS if windows didn't come out.

#2.25 NeoTrunks on 17 Jul 2009 - 02:39

Tommy DW said,

But, who said anything about Apple there?

(2 replies) #3 MistaT40 on 15 Jul 2009 - 19:49

Always good to hear Gates - it's a shame he is no longer the front man who runs the show.

#3.1 +lcg on 16 Jul 2009 - 08:12

MistaT40 said,

I agree with you. It's always good hearing from Gates.

#3.2 LiquidSolstice on 16 Jul 2009 - 21:29

The only times I ever hear Gates name anymore are all these idiotic kiddies on the internet saying "omg bill gates sux lololol" because of Vista.

It's pathetic.

Whichever way you spin it, the man and his goals were legendary. Give him that much respect, kthx.

(1 reply) #4 andrewbares on 15 Jul 2009 - 19:50

It's nice to hear from Gates. At least he's honest in that he says it's tough to speculate on what the Chrome OS will actually be.

#4.1 liberatus_sum on 15 Jul 2009 - 21:58

andrewbares said,

Well considering Google's roots, It's not a stretch of the imagination to presume it will centre around the browser and web apps.

(8 replies) #5 FoxieFoxie on 15 Jul 2009 - 19:57

Hmm, did our society just evolved and no longer hates Bill?

#5.1 vette on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:12

I find it hard to see people hating him anyways. Yeah he's played dirty, real dirty but at the same time look at what else he has done.

#5.2 the420kid on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:18

mmm i think Gates is less of an asshat then Steve Jobs...Ballmer i wont touch

#5.3 +majortom1981 on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:21

FoxieFoxie said,

Well when you retire to work on a charity how can you hate him.

#5.4 +AltecXP on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:36

I'd rather have a drink at a bar with Gates then either of the Steves. Hes a very shrude business man, used to be a great coder(not sure how well he's kept up) and hes knows how to go with a joke.

#5.5 C_Guy on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:54

Nope. Hard to hate a man who has accomplished so much in business, technology, and charitable efforts. If you can find a way, well, you're in the minority.

#5.6 liberatus_sum on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:00

Na, we still detest him. Our conceptions of him have changed though, for we now realise he's just a snake oil salesman.

#5.7 dangel on 16 Jul 2009 - 08:04

"We" being you? Grow up.

#5.8 LiquidSolstice on 16 Jul 2009 - 21:30

You're such a failure at trolling, you know that?

I don't call at least (if not more than) 75% of home PC's running some version of windows the product of a snake oil salesman. Please stfu and go away, kthx.

(7 replies) #6 Ambroos on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:20

Microsoft is working on a huge reputation boost with their latest products. Clean, modern, integrated seem to be the keywords, and it's starting to work. Think about all the products they recently refreshed/released (or soon will be refreshed/released)

- Windows Live Apps (the latest suite): got really clean and userfriendly, with lots of customization options
- Office 2007 and soon 2010 with web apps: extremely clean interfaces, and once you actually accept you won't have your menu bar anymore you're so much faster with it, it just works
- Windows 7: the best Windows out there by far. Isn't this the first time they managed to down the actual hardware requirements instead of increasing them or keeping them the same? It just works again!
- Zune: You'll have to admit it, it is one very nice music player. The interface (designed by the Media Center team) is just awesome, looks great and is easy to use, and with the new Zune HD coming up they've got a beautiful competitor for the iPod Touch out there!
- Bing: refreshing search actually, shame about the international launch that didn't go really well (Bing still has no use here in Belgium), but their US approach is just good, does what people want and does it in a good way. Unlike Google which is just clean and probably why we geeks love it, Bing has a shiny interface that I, and lots of other people will simply love. The daily image is awesome, and usually even has me Googling the subject for a while!

Can't instantly think of others, but with their music streaming thing coming up, which I'm sure will be great if they put the right people on it, will probably follow this modern fresh style aswell!

Good job Microsoft, you're bringing back the cool to your company!

#6.1 Eastwind on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:40

Agreed there...

About Bing... Actually Bing currently only operates in USA. Other "Bings" around the world are not real Bing, they are just newly skinned same old Live Search (well, that's an insider info)

#6.2 +AltecXP on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:44

Yes, I was actually feeling Depressed with MS around the time Vista launched and ended up making the semi move (Still have a PC desktop) to a Mac. Now with Windows 7, Bing, the Live tools getting better and Office 2007, which I have a VM of Vista on my MacBook just to run, I'm starting start to feel much better about Microsoft's products.

#6.3 burnblue on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:46

Googling the subject for a while

à² _à² Don't you mean continuing on Bing?

#6.4 Ambroos on 15 Jul 2009 - 21:43

burnblue said,

Google-ing something is an official verb in Dutch and just means searching for something on the internet :p Obviously, I Bing it in this case :p

#6.5 Ambroos on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:54

@liberatus_sum above

- I'm talking about the app suite, not about the search engine.

- Yes, the ribbon is a pretty big feature aside from the completely new rendering engine and for me was definately the reason to buy 2007. (Been using it since the very first dogfood build that leaked out, and couldn't live without it anymore)

- The way Microsoft works on Windows 7 is completely different. Windows 7 is, compared to Vista a minor release, and mainly fixed everything people started complaining about in Vista. And oh by the way, there's nothing wrong with Vista? I use it a lot, like it, and know many other people who prefere it by far over XP. My uncle for example has a problem reading small text (dyslexia) and he loves Flip3D, it made using his laptop a lot easier for him. I'm sure the superbar will be another improvement since it doesn't rely on text labels.

And oh, I've been using Windows 7 as my main OS since december, I think I'd have noticed major problems by now since I'm using my pc at least five hours a day, every day.

- Zune might not be very popular but the people who own one all agree the Zune beats the iPod in almost everything but the available music in the catalogue.

- Bing got a huge market share for having to compete against Google and did VERY well, and I think it's maybe not the most complete (in search results) but by far the best search engine in completeness.

- I don't get that one about positively frozen in time. Microsoft has been innovating terribly much the last two years.

And oh, please don't quote or quote the right way...

#6.6 liberatus_sum on 15 Jul 2009 - 23:11

Ambroos said,

And oh, please don't quote or quote the right way...

For some reason quotes aren't working on the text above. Perhaps an oversight on my part. nevertheless, you understood the sentiment.

#6.7 leojei on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:46

Eastwind said,

o.O REALLY? damn!

#7 ishtar on 15 Jul 2009 - 20:37

I agree with Bill it's like the apple clowns get all fuzzy because some one finally put a camera in a portable device ..

ohhh I can't wait till they invent the tablet pc ....

#8 speedstr3789 on 15 Jul 2009 - 21:11

Let's get something straight. Gates is a true technology genius. Jobs is an excellent salesman. I guarantee Gates understands the technology behind the scenes better than Jobs does. Jobs is a pitchman. Same holds true for Ballmer. Pitchman. Nothing more.
You ever see gates SAT scores?

(4 replies) #9 roadwarrior on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:06

Gates' comment about what is and isn't a browser is the funniest thing in the whole interview. Why? Because it was Microsoft that started the trend when they merged Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer with the desktop in Windows 98!

#9.1 liberatus_sum on 15 Jul 2009 - 22:56

roadwarrior said,

That was an unintentional side effect of trying to destroy the competition (netscape).

#9.2 lordcanti86 on 16 Jul 2009 - 02:46

Ummm....MS didn't really need help killing off Netscape. Netscape did a real good job killing itself.

#9.3 Joshie on 16 Jul 2009 - 05:58

MS working the internet into the desktop was NOT competing with Netscape. It was part of a grander redefinition of what the web can be. Netscape was still a world wide web trapped in a window.

#9.4 roadwarrior on 16 Jul 2009 - 13:28

lordcanti86 said,

But the heart and soul of Netscape is still with us! Remember where Firefox came from.

#10 kheldorin on 15 Jul 2009 - 23:09

Heh, this just degenerated into a flamefest. People treat these guys as celebrities. I don't care about them. I care about their technologies. Which goes back to the main question. What exactly is new about ChromeOS that would warrant this type of hype? Or is this just a brand issue? It's from Google...it must be revolutionary?

(3 replies) #11 dnagroove on 15 Jul 2009 - 23:58

who cares about what we know or what we don't know of ChromeOS?! Little Billy Gates here got you all confused with his mind games... of course we don't know anything about ChromeOS, we don't need to... we just like the idea that Windows FINALLY has some serious competition. That's what it was all about in the first place.

#11.1 leojei on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:48

dnagroove said,

I for some reason couldn't devise how big this "ChromOS" is some serious competition without us knowing anything more than Gates already knew.

#11.2 Harbinger on 16 Jul 2009 - 01:43

ChromeOS won't even remotely be competition for Windows. Maybe against other free OSes like linux distros and the likes. Or (assuming its highly polished and functional) it could be a decent OS for netbooks. It'll never threat MS on the desktop segment.

#11.3 FloatingFatMan on 16 Jul 2009 - 08:20

To compete with Windows, an alternative OS must be able to RUN Windows software, otherwise it hasn't got a chance.

Or, to put it another way, to compete with Windows, one must BECOME Windows.

(1 reply) #12 sweetsam on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:04

Its funny, people these days don't have the time to see what they are talking about before calling it all sorts of names such as useless, waste of time, blah blah. How about do something useful with your time and come back with your amazing insights when you have actually had the chance to take a look at what you are talking about ?

#12.1 leojei on 16 Jul 2009 - 00:51

I saw 2 generations of "forum-culture" and I thought I'm in the 3rd one, but apparently I'm still in the 2nd... what culture? see below:

1. ppl start complaining
2. ppl start complaining those who complains
3. ppl still complains but no one complains about ppl that complains.

It's quite hard for #3 cuz all we need is to have 1 person started with #2, and ppl (like me) would do the same. It's so infectious!

(2 replies) #13 JDonner on 16 Jul 2009 - 05:31

The comments here remind me of people years ago on the Linux newsgroups claiming how good Linux was, while posting their newsgroup messages with Outlook(Express), hell did they know that you can actually check the message properties...

In other words; don't come here bashing Microsoft and its people, while typing your post on a Microsoft operating system...sigh

#13.1 ajua on 16 Jul 2009 - 07:30

JDonner said,

You are so right...

It's like people talking wonders about Apple without even having an iPod/iPhone or a Mac. And doing it like the people you talked about, from Windows computers...

#13.2 LiquidSolstice on 16 Jul 2009 - 21:32

THANK YOU.

I was waiting for someone to finally mention this.

#14 Iamit2900 on 16 Jul 2009 - 07:54

Hmm, the vagueness is a point (on Chrome OS). Microsoft's weakness has probably been marketing (they seem to be getting better). Gates still makes good points about software and the abuse of the term browser. I still respect him professionally. Also come on, loads of people here have said how good Windows 7 is, just in beta, he should be happy!

(2 replies) #15 Xeron on 16 Jul 2009 - 08:04

Is there going to be a Europe version of Chrome OS without a browser? Because, hey, a browser is not an integral part of an operating system.

#15.1 Omkar™ on 16 Jul 2009 - 08:30

Xeron said,

HÃ©hÃ©!
+1

#15.2 Einlander on 16 Jul 2009 - 09:01

You sir win the interwebz

(1 reply) #16 texasghost on 16 Jul 2009 - 12:34

Well...let's be honest here...

Major corporations are not going to be using Google as their operating system. Bill has nothing to fear.

What Bill needs to fear is the possibility if Windows 7 does not get accepted by companies and individual users...he will have a serious problem on his hands.

#16.1 LiquidSolstice on 16 Jul 2009 - 21:33

From what I've seen with 7, I highly doubt that will be an issue, but an important factor to bring up, nonetheless.

#17 Un4given on 16 Jul 2009 - 14:12

"I'm always the one who thinks, gosh, why isn't Microsoft doing even more, because that's been my mindset, let's move fast, do new things very quickly," Gates said

Hence, why under your term, the only truly stable OS was Windows 98 SE.

This man just needs to lrn2lvitalone. Jealousy at its finest.

(1 reply) #18 M_Lyons10 on 16 Jul 2009 - 17:51

I dunno, I tend to agree. I don't really understand getting so excited about an OS that we know absolutely nothing about aside from the fact that it's yet another version of Linux... I'm really lost here. I've just never gotten so worked up over something I don't know anything about... :-\

#18.1 LiquidSolstice on 16 Jul 2009 - 21:34

You're late to the party.

It seems everytime someone makes a modification off Unix (Ubuntu, Crunchbang, OpenSuse, OS X) everyone just goes ape**** crazy over them.

I get what you mean.

Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!

Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.

Neowin.net