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.
Posted on 09/21/2017 1:39:29 PM PDT by dayglored
Gives two-fingered salute to IBM designers for forcing us to use three-fingered salute
Bill Gates has said that if he had his time again, he would not have chosen CTRL-ALT-DEL as the keypress to interrupt a PC's operations.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, as recorded from about the 8:30 mark in this video, Gates looked a touch bemused when Carlyle Group co-founder and CEO David Rubenstein asked about the infamous three-finger salute.
He nonetheless answered the question directly, and in a very Bill Gates way, saying: "The IBM hardware PC keyboard only had one way it could get a guaranteed interrupt generated. So clearly the people involved, they should have put another key on in order to make that work."
Gates also observed that "a lot of machines nowadays do have that as a more obvious function." Rubenstein pressed, asking whether Gates regrets having chosen CTRL-ALT-DEL.
"I am not sure you can go back and change the small things in your life without putting the other things at risk," Gates responded, before adding: "Sure, if I could make one small edit I would make that a single key operation."
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. He also opined that the "digital revolution" has many years to run, with effects aplenty to be felt across all industries. ®
The three-finger-salute was the work of IBM engineer David Bradley, who programmed the original IBM PC BIOS to forcibly trigger a system reboot when the keys were pressed – and there wasn't much Microsoft could do about it.
In 2001, at a party marking the 20th birthday of the IBM PC, Bradley, while sitting next to Gates, quipped to his audience: "I have to share the credit [for ctrl-alt-del]. I may have invented it, but I think Bill made it famous.”
The Redmond billionaire was not amused.
Good point!
For those who think Bill Gates makes sound predictions....
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." Bill Gates, 1981
Kung Fury!
GAME OVER.
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’.
Bingo.
How is it that I see that and the great communist... uh, computerist... does not?
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
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.
XP didn't die... I'm using it to write this Reply!
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.
Like, with a non-abrasive, soft microfiber Cloth or Something?
I just noticed the link in the first bullet point is to FR.
Good point. Indeed, look what happened when they built a single, History Eraser Button and had Cadet Stimpy guard it...
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....
.
Bill Gates is a common thief and a fool.
That kind of power in one key stroke would have computers crashing constantly.
.
.
>> “But MS just had to be different.” <<
Or had to do something to avoid accusation that DOS was just a rip-off of UNIX.
.
There it is...
+1
.
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.
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