It's hard to describe the ruthlessness of Microsoft in the 80s and 90's and how ruthlessly Gates ran the company. Bill Gates was 'Gordon Gekko' of technology. H

It's hard to describe the ruthlessness of Microsoft in the 80s and 90's and how ruthlessly Gates ran the company. Bill Gates was 'Gordon Gekko' of technology. He was an angry office bully and nightmare boss (he admits this himself). Gates didn't run Microsoft as a technology company. Technological merit was very low in the decision making. It was all about "Embrace, extend, and extinguish" (phrase used by U.S. Department of Justice to describe Microsoft). MS threw lawyers and dirty tactics against competitors. OEM's had to follow directions from MS. Only after Bill Gates resigned his position as a Chief Architect you started to see technological quality improve. Software startups and VC companies in that era needed so called "Microsoft Strategy". What to do when MS shows interest? Immediate sell out or fight until death. If you demo them your product, they can make a copy. You can sue them, but they just throw in more lawyers, buy out your chief architects with millions. If the company wins the court battle years later it's too late. MS could afford to lose in the court and still win. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguis... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation