Bill+Gates

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William (Bill) H. Gates is the chairman of the [|Microsoft Corporation]. He is also the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. On July of 2008, gates will change from day to day company role to focusing more on his global health and education work at the [|Bill & Melinda Gatse Foundation]. Gates will still serve as Microsoft's chairman and advisor on key developing projects. (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/bio.mspx)======

__ Background __ Bill Gates was born in October 28, 1955 and grew up in Seattle. Gates attended a public elementary school at the private Lakeside School. At age 13, Gates dicovered his interest in software and began programming computers. Gates attended Harvard University as a freshmen in 1973, and while there, he developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the [|MITS Altair]. In 1975, Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen began the Microsoft Software Industry. Both believed that one day computers were going to be one of the most valuable tool in a office and home. In 2007, Microsoft reflected on its investments of $7.1 billion in research and development. This was caused because Microsoft wanted to improve software tehnology and make it easier and more enjoyable for people that use computers. (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/bio.mspx)

__Astute Businessman__

Gates is well known to be a very intelligent businessman. He has always looked for different ways to improve and make his compnay grow. His company Microsoft has developed a variety of software applications and has eventually become one of the worlds biggest leading software company. Gates efforts have paid off and has become one of the worlds wealthiest person in the United States with an estimated net worth of $50 billion in 2006. Gates and his wife Melinda both established the [|Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation] in 2000. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation works on global health and educational issues across the world. The world's wealthiest man is putting his money to work to help eradicate disease and improve schools worldwide. __ Open Source software movement

__The open source movement wouldn't exist without Microsoft.Open source encourages any programmer to tear apart the code and build it back up again. The theory is that this collaborative process encourages innovation and decreases bugs by increasing the number of people with a stake in the project. (http://www.slate.com/id/2130798/). Open source, is a process of collaboration aimed at a result. In software, it’s a collaboration between companies and people aimed at building a common store of code that all can benefit from.(http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=691)