Rebirth of the Tech Madman

...

Tang it's excellent grasp of the industry trend drew warm applause.

Gates politely clapped his hands a few times, feeling an inexplicable sense of loss in his heart—not because of his jealousy towards Tang Huan, but because he felt as if he had overlooked something.

It was difficult for Gates to hear other people's nagging, so after listening to Tang Huan's speech, he got up and left the venue, so that he could recall carefully where the sense of loss came from.

Gates was very satisfied with the excitement of Microsoft's booth.

Ever since his personal relationship with Tang Huan turned cold, he has been devoting himself to the development of windows_95 for the consumer market, and his progress has finally surpassed that of Zheru Software Company. At this comdex, windows_95 showed the official version, and Only the beta version has been released, and it is said that the official version will not be launched until next year.

In fact, windows_95 is the upgraded version of windows_3.1, windows_4, but it has been packaged commercially, just like Zheru's, arranged according to the version number of the kernel, it should also be version 4.

The significance of windows_95 to Microsoft is that it finally has a 32-bit consumer operating system that can get rid of the ms_dos environment and run independently, and maintains the compatibility with the 16-bit applications of ms_dos well, so that it will not be in He Zhe In the competition of Confucian software, there is no one to send.

At this stage, Zheru Software has three operating systems - enterprise-level - Vientiane and consumer-level and freedos, and Microsoft's corresponding ones are windows_nt and windows_95, as well as ms-dos.

Gates is like a mirror in his heart, the real competitor of Unix is ​​unix, windows_nt can't make it up at all, and it mainly fights with novell_netware.

Windows and ms-dos are also inferior to freedos in terms of function and quality, but the survival rules of the consumer market are different from those of the enterprise market-windows_95, which is far superior to ms-dos, is definitely capable of fighting.

Taking the current situation as an example, the ibm-pc compatible machine with a declining market share has no choice but to upgrade the operating system to windows_95; Fangyuan PC compatible machine manufacturers have shown strong interest in the low-priced windows_95 ;When Microsoft approached Fangyuan Company to talk about pre-installing windows_95 on Fangyuan PCs, the other party did not dare to refuse explicitly—this was an opportunity.

Although Microsoft cannot spend more than 300 million U.S. dollars to promote the i strategy like Zheru Software, it has also prepared a budget of nearly 100 million U.S. dollars for the marketing of windows_95, which is enough to benefit from the ever-growing personal computer cake. Come on, it's divided into one piece.

Logically speaking, even if it is not as powerful as Zheru, compared with other software companies, Microsoft's product lineup is much more orderly and has a lot of peace of mind. However, after coming to the comdex venue in Las Vegas, Gates felt that What did I ignore.

When he was thinking hard, he saw the No. 3 person in charge of Microsoft's operating system department, Vice President Jim Alchin, hurried in.

Have you talked with those compatible machine manufacturers? Gates asked casually.

Jim Alchin nodded, I'll just tell them one thing - even if the functions of windows_95 don't seem to be so complete, they are enough for individual users, and they are also cheap enough. They are definitely high quality and low price.

On the Windows platform, there are also various application software including ms-office. It has a complete ecological chain, of course it is enough! Gates said quite conceitedly.

Jim Alchian, of course, agreed with this point of view, but he did not reply, but looked around.

When seeing an assistant who has been disguised\

,"When he walked over with his computer bag, Jim Alchin waved his hand quickly, called him to his eyes, and asked in a low voice, Have you got it?

The latest beta version has been installed on the laptop. The assistant replied, putting the computer bag on the table and taking out the laptop inside, However, it does not support co-existing with our windows_95 to form multiple operations. system, I had to format the hard disk and reinstall it, and some of the original data was gone.”

Damn it. Jim Alchian complained depressingly overbearingly, then impatiently started the laptop, the familiar picture of flipping a book flashed on the screen, and then entered the working space.

Gates, who is best at stealing lessons, immediately understood after seeing this scene that Jim Alchian had discovered something important, so he asked curiously, Is there any new function?

This beta version has added a new feature called 'active_workspace' - 'active workspace'. Jim Alchin pointed to the laptop computer that had been connected to the network cable, and explained: Look, the Internet The latest news, stock market quotes, weather forecast and other information on the Internet are automatically pushed over.

Zheru's 'i-strategy' is really big. The functions of the operating system and the browser are so closely integrated. After Gates sighed, a sudden flash of inspiration flashed in his head, and he slapped his thigh in frustration. , I know something is missing in windows_95.

Jim Alchian followed with a tacit understanding: A browser program.

It's more than that. Gates shook his head, I was so focused on the competition of the operating system that I used to regard Zheru Software's 'i strategy' as a general plan to tap Internet business opportunities and creativity, and even more so. The browser is regarded as an ordinary application. Now it seems that the browser is not so simple, it has a tendency to become the only entrance to the Internet, and it can even become an all-inclusive platform, which is no less important than the operating system.”

Although Jim Alchian has worked hard to study the products of Zheru, it is difficult to understand the urgent expression of burning buttocks shown by Gates, but it is not easy to point this out directly, so he explained: From now on, It shouldn’t be a problem to develop a browser and add it to the upgrade package of wndows_95 next year.”

Is it that easy? Gates, who is well versed in technology, dragged the mouse, operated the polestar browser, and muttered to himself: There is at least a rendering engine and a scripting language interpreter in it, which is not simple.

Jim Alchin shrugged, Netscape_navigator, the free browser of Netscape, has been developed for less than a year, and there is also a paid website server at the same time.

Gates thought for a while, and then said: You study it first, I'll go to Netscape to have a look.

Okay. Jim Alchin nodded as he wished. All his thoughts were on the beta version in front of him, and he didn't want to be disturbed.

...

The booth of the small Netscape company was equally lively. After all, just taking the initiative to challenge Zheru Software Company was enough to create a great reputation.

Gates did not hide his identity, and stood in front of the demonstration computer, looking at the official version 1.0 netscape_navigator browser with great interest.

Jim Clark, who had just sent away a wave of visitors, quickly spotted Gates, who looked a little different in the crowd, and immediately walked over to say hello, The netscape_navigator browser you saw can support multiple platforms. is the best browser.

Gates smiled, and said sharply: As far as I know, the current market share of Zheru's polestar browser will not be less than 80%—I don't know how the best browser netscape_navigator What about chasing?

Without waiting for Jim Clark to answer, Gates followed up and asked, Is it free?

Of course it's more than that. Jim Clark shrugged, For example, our technical team is also the best.

Gates was noncommittal, and continued to follow his own thinking: If I were in charge of Zheru Software's browser business, I would launch a free version of netscape_navigator, which is extremely simple to do.

Jim Clark originally wanted to find an opportunity to talk to Gates about the cooperation between the netscape_navigator browser and the Microsoft platform, but he didn't expect to be squeezed so bluntly by the other party, and he was immediately displeased.

Jim Clark, who founded the Silicon Valley Graphics Company, is also a well-known task in Silicon Valley. How could he be fooled by Gates' tricks, so he frowned and asked directly: What do you want to explain?

I want to tell you that in the current software industry, a single product will soon be swallowed up by the tide of competition. Gates pointed to Jiangshan with old-fashioned style: netscape_navigator is just a small fishing boat, and Zheru Software has a complete product line. , it is an aircraft carrier—you don’t need to fire, just outflank it casually, and it will trap you to death.”

Jim Clark, who was unable to refute for a while, retorted angrily: Microsoft also has an aircraft carrier, but unfortunately the displacement is a little smaller, and the equipment is also outdated.

Gates clapped his hands and smiled, But an aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier, and it has the necessary platform for carrier-based aircraft to take off and land—isn't netscape_navigator lacking this?

Only then did Jim Clark understand that Gates, who had been showing off for a long time, also had the intention of cooperating, so he quickly collected his thoughts and asked slowly: So, how do you open Microsoft's aircraft carrier to Netscape?

Gates said without blinking, Are you willing to accept Microsoft's acquisition of Netscape? Of course, the terms are negotiable.

Jim Clark froze for a moment, then replied with a smile and tears: I'm afraid, we have to think about it carefully, and we can't give an answer right away.

Of course. Gates shrugged. It's just that the market situation is changing rapidly. I hope Netscape will not miss the best opportunity.

...

After Gates left, Mark Anderson said excitedly: If Microsoft is willing to pay a big price, then we will make money, and we don't have to worry about financing anymore.

Young man, you are too naive, you don't know about the intrigue in Silicon Valley. Jim Clark snorted, Microsoft also talked with Novell about the acquisition, but during the lengthy negotiation process, after emptying out Novell's business secrets , there is no more text.

No way... Mark Anderson opened his mouth wide open in shock.

Believe me, Gates can't give us what we want. Jim Clark patted Mark Anderson's shoulder earnestly. The company sold more to Microsoft.

...

Tang Huan was going to the apec summit, so he couldn't stay too long in the comdex, so after giving orders, Charles Simeone, who stayed in Zheru's group organization and focused on technology in an all-round way, carefully observed the new technological developments revealed at the exhibition, and then went to Get on Silicon Valley One and head to Bogor, Indonesia.

This is the capital of the Dutch colonial period, and it is a summer resort; the botanical garden built in 1817 is even more famous all over the world-it is indeed very suitable as a meeting place to entertain distinguished guests from all walks of life.

Compared with last year, APEC's mechanism has been improved to a greater extent, and then everyone no longer has to rack their brains to come up with ideas, but just follow the established roadmap and follow the rules.

This year, APEC added another new member—Chile from South America, which was approved to join in, giving the richest man one more partner to deal with.

However, this time Tang Huan's mind was on US President Bill Clinton.

Know that some topics are easier to discuss this far from America.

Because of the tight schedule during the APEC summit, the US president and the world's richest man only had time to arrange a 15-minute private walk.

During this process, Tang Huan quietly mentioned the turmoil in Mexico's financial market, It has been almost a year since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, and the United States and Mexico have clearly come to the fore in terms of financial market integration. If a financial crisis breaks out in Mexico, I am afraid that the United States will also be affected by it.