Bill Gates

Well, it was a big deal technologically, it was a big deal for users, and it was a big deal because it's pretty wild that Microsoft, amidst all the antitrust stuff we were just talking about, During the 1998 to 1999, the rulings in 2000, the settlement proposal in 2001, they developed and released an operating system amidst all of that.

Well, it was a big deal technologically, it was a big deal for users, and it was a big deal because it's pretty wild that Microsoft, amidst all the antitrust stuff we were just talking about, During the 1998 to 1999, the rulings in 2000, the settlement proposal in 2001, they developed and released an operating system amidst all of that.

Yeah. So what was Windows XP technically? Well, for the previous better part of a decade, they had two parallel development efforts going on. There was Windows NT for the enterprise, and there was Windows 9X. Windows 95, Windows 98 for consumers. And both of these had the same API that developers could write their applications for.

Yeah. So what was Windows XP technically? Well, for the previous better part of a decade, they had two parallel development efforts going on. There was Windows NT for the enterprise, and there was Windows 9X. Windows 95, Windows 98 for consumers. And both of these had the same API that developers could write their applications for.

But ultimately, the way they were implemented, the way interoperability worked, compatibility worked, user experience, everything about it was actually completely different because it was a completely different implementation of those APIs. And so the knock against NT was always, well, you need really beefy enterprise-grade PCs to run it, and it's not as nice and intuitive.

But ultimately, the way they were implemented, the way interoperability worked, compatibility worked, user experience, everything about it was actually completely different because it was a completely different implementation of those APIs. And so the knock against NT was always, well, you need really beefy enterprise-grade PCs to run it, and it's not as nice and intuitive.

And the knock against the Windows 9X, call it 95, was that, yeah, it looks pretty, but it's not powerful. I can't actually do anything. It was like a friendly interface, but not a powerful set of functionality that came with the operating system. And so XP... did the impossible, where they figured out how to take the ease of use of the 9X interface and make it run on top of NT.

And the knock against the Windows 9X, call it 95, was that, yeah, it looks pretty, but it's not powerful. I can't actually do anything. It was like a friendly interface, but not a powerful set of functionality that came with the operating system. And so XP... did the impossible, where they figured out how to take the ease of use of the 9X interface and make it run on top of NT.

The whole thing is built on the NT kernel, and it has the friendly, approachable ease of use that you are used to in Windows 95 and 98.

The whole thing is built on the NT kernel, and it has the friendly, approachable ease of use that you are used to in Windows 95 and 98.

Amazing. So the lineage of that 9X code base that came all the way from Windows 3.0 or maybe even 1 or 2, I don't know how long code lived, but... Interface manager. Right. Exactly. Is now dead. And so you had the NT lineage of, I guess, maybe even you could say it started with OS 2, but Windows NT, Windows 2000, and then Windows XP. So everybody's running XP now. There's two editions.

Amazing. So the lineage of that 9X code base that came all the way from Windows 3.0 or maybe even 1 or 2, I don't know how long code lived, but... Interface manager. Right. Exactly. Is now dead. And so you had the NT lineage of, I guess, maybe even you could say it started with OS 2, but Windows NT, Windows 2000, and then Windows XP. So everybody's running XP now. There's two editions.

There's home and there's professional.

There's home and there's professional.

It came with all kinds of great stuff. They've got this great slide. It's a fun announcement to watch. The emphasis on digital photography, digital music, digital video, home networking. It ushered us into this age of you probably have media that you're using on your computer. Apple famously owned this as a corporate identity with their digital hub strategy.

It came with all kinds of great stuff. They've got this great slide. It's a fun announcement to watch. The emphasis on digital photography, digital music, digital video, home networking. It ushered us into this age of you probably have media that you're using on your computer. Apple famously owned this as a corporate identity with their digital hub strategy.

But, you know, Windows XP, plenty of people were importing digital photos off their camera to Windows XP. That was a sort of big, exciting use case for it.

But, you know, Windows XP, plenty of people were importing digital photos off their camera to Windows XP. That was a sort of big, exciting use case for it.

A lot of Napster clients, yes. So, like I did for every Microsoft Windows release, I went and watched the Keynote. The keynote is extremely strange. Think about what a Steve Jobs keynote was back in the day, or what a WWDC keynote is like today, or a Google I.O. This keynote opens with a gospel choir singing America the Beautiful.

A lot of Napster clients, yes. So, like I did for every Microsoft Windows release, I went and watched the Keynote. The keynote is extremely strange. Think about what a Steve Jobs keynote was back in the day, or what a WWDC keynote is like today, or a Google I.O. This keynote opens with a gospel choir singing America the Beautiful.