Bill Gates says he'd do CTRL-ALT-DEL with one key if given the chance to go back through time

The Register ^ | Sep 21, 2017 | Simon Sharwood

[Enchante]

Good point!

[MosesKnows]

I think Bill made it famous

For those who think Bill Gates makes sound predictions....

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." Bill Gates, 1981

[Alas Babylon!]

Kung Fury!

GAME OVER.

[NorthMountain]

I once had a computer (a Gateway, IIRC, Windows XP era) with a ‘go to sleep’ key on the keyboard. Yes, I hit it accidentally a few times. Finally replaced it with a Logitech that didn’t have that ‘feature’.

[YogicCowboy]

Bingo.

How is it that I see that and the great communist... uh, computerist... does not?

[Jimmy The Snake]

He cannot change what he didn’t write. He bought DOS off of a need friend not telling the guy he was in talks with IBM

[cynwoody]

There is a good reason why ctrl-alt-del is a three-key, two-handed chord. I recall the time a babe in the arms of his mother suddenly reached out and pushed the red power button on an IBM mainframe.

Now, if Mr Bill wants an example of something truly obnoxious, I nominate the choice of backslash (\) as the DOS/Windows file separator. Everywhere else, it's the escape character. But MS just had to be different.

[Ace's Dad]

His real mistake was letting the last usable Operating System die. Windows XP

XP didn't die... I'm using it to write this Reply!

[Moonman62]

Gates also used his time on the panel discussion to take a small swipe at “Silicon Valley billionaires who want to live forever”, saying that his current focus is on problems such as the fact an African child is 100 times more likely to die of a preventable disease than an American child.

...

Reducing infant mortality is key to stopping the population explosion in Africa.

[cynwoody]

Is that from an ADM-3A terminal (from the seventies)?

[avenir]

👍

[cynwoody]

Wiping, like with a cloth??

Like, with a non-abrasive, soft microfiber Cloth or Something?

• After you have smashed your BlackBerry, don't forget to wipe the fingerprints from your email server with this non-abrasive, soft microfiber Cloth or Something.
• Thin, foldable size makes it easy to stash the Cloth or Something in burn bags.
• 6" x 6" size quickly wipes even the biggest email servers with thousands of emails.
• Optionally autographed on the back by Andrew, creator of BleachBit.
• Printed in the USA!
• Guaranteed not to prove intent, or you will get a full refund paid when you are released from prison.
• USPS first-class shipping and handling is a flat rate of $2 per order.
• Yes, this cloth is real, and you can really buy it.
• Frame it as a collectible or clean smudges from your eyeglasses, jewelry, smartphones, and tablets.
• Buy an extra cloth for your VIP (VERY VIP) client.

I just noticed the link in the first bullet point is to FR.

[DoodleBob]

The average user I know would have mistakenly rebooted constantly and caused all sorts of corrupted files.

Good point. Indeed, look what happened when they built a single, History Eraser Button and had Cadet Stimpy guard it...

[Dr. Sivana]

Is that from an ADM-3A terminal (from the seventies)?

It IS! I cut my computer baby teeth on one of those, the Lear-Siegler (no lower case) hooked up to a PDP-8M. GREAT mechanical feel to the keys.

[Vendome]

CTRL-ALT-Del works and frightens those who have no idea what they do or are afraid of what they might do.

You made the right decision....

[editor-surveyor]

.
Bill Gates is a common thief and a fool.

That kind of power in one key stroke would have computers crashing constantly.
.

[editor-surveyor]

.
>> “But MS just had to be different.” <<

Or had to do something to avoid accusation that DOS was just a rip-off of UNIX.
.

[Windflier]

,,,the malaria medicine they use to help people -(Whispered to my wife -”they should lobby to bring back DDT.”)...

There it is...

[x]

+1

[editor-surveyor]

.
I have to admit its been 40 years, but hitting “power off” did nothing on the machines I’ve used, unles one first hit “int req,” “Imm stop” by my recollection.