U.S. drops bid for Microsoft breakup

Sept. 7, 2001 - The Justice Department has decided not to pursue their earlier plan to break Microsoft into separate companies. It will still seek ways to insure that it is not a monopoly.

...will not continue to seek to break up Microsoft or pursue a key claim that the company illegally tied its Web browser to its dominant Windows operating system. The government says its moves are largely aimed at obtaining a remedy "as quickly as possible."

Source: USA Today

Also: BBC coverage- Microsoft decision heralds Bush stance

Gates charts internet's future

Jan. 29, 2001 - During a debate on the future of the internet at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Gates said that the wireless internet and the mobile phone would merge in the near future. "The phone and the screen will come together."

His greatest concern is whether or not most people will be able to afford the technology.

Source: BBC

Gates donates $100 Million for Aids research

Jan. 29, 2001 - Gates millions for Aids research - At the World Economic Forum, Bill Gates offered $100 million in matching funds, thus encouraging support from other organizations to correct the unbelievable failure to produce a vaccine for Aids after 20 years.

Source: BBC

William Henry Gates III

Jan., 2001 - Biographical article about Gates

Source: ABC

Gates Donates $8.8 Million to Improve Women's Health

Dec. 11, 2000 - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will grant $8.8 million to The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to promote family planning services for women in more than 180 countries around the world.

Source: Yahoo

Gates hands down his tablet

Nov. 13, 2000 - In his keynote address at the Comdex Fall Convention in Las Vegas, Microsoft's Bill Gates defended the continuing importance of the PC against the flood of new "Internet Appliances" which often claim that the personal computer will be a thing of the past. He said that he saw no future in trying to access or make sense of the rapidly expanding wealth of Internet information with a low-powered device such as a smartphone or a palm-sized computer.

He did acknowledge that a notebook computer was an important aspect of the future, and introduced a prototype of Microsoft's PC Tablet which will incorporate the functionality of the present desktop computer in a flat portable system. The tablet should be available in 2002.

Source: BBC

Microsoft to fight break-up proposal

April 29, 2000 - Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, responded to the justice department's proposal that Microsoft be broken into two separate companies, by saying, "These proposals would have a chilling effect on innovation in the high technology industry.

Under the government proposals, one of the new companies would sell the various Windows operating systems and the other would do everything else, such as produce software applications and the Internet Explorer browser.

Microsoft has until May 10 to respond to the proposed break-up.

Source: BBC

Gates steps down - but the fight goes on

Jan. 14, 2000 - Bill Gates has announced that he will step down as CEO of Microsoft, turning the post over to his long-time friend and associate, Steve Balmer. Gates will maintain influence as Chairman of the Board, and will devote most of his energy to software development.

Source: BBC

Profile: Bill Gates

Microsoft signals death of PCs

Dec. 9, 1999 - by John Cassy and Jane Martinson

Entering into an agreement to work with Ericksson, the world's leading supplier of mobile phones and other wireless devices, Microsoft acknowledged the advice of experts who say that

... by 2003 more than 600m people will be accessing the internet from mobile devices compared to 550m using desktop computers.

Source:The Guardian (Story no longer on line)

Microsoft Declared A Monopoly

Microsoft vs US Justice Dept

Nov. 6, 1999 - "Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has issued a preliminary ruling: Microsoft's operating system is a monopoly." Source: BBC - Many links from this site

Bill Gates tops list of world's richest

June 21, 1999 - Continuing his reign as the richest man in the world, Bill Gates is worth $90 billion, and two of his co-workers are in the top five: Co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen (No. 3) with $30 billion and Microsoft President Steven Ballmer (No. 4) with $19.5 billion. Source: Washington Post (Story lo longer on line)

Pirates Of Silicon Valley

June 21, 1999 - Fred Moody's critique of the TV movie which portrays the competition between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

Gates and Wife Donate $5 Bil. More

June 2, 1999 - The William H. Gates Foundation becomes the third largest in the nation with total asset base of $10 Billion. It's purpose is to make grants for health, population and education projects worldwide. Source: Yahoo (Story no longer on line)

Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II, Bill Gates on Bilderberg List

May 27, 1999 - Bill Gates will be one of the participants in the June '99 Bilderburg Meeting in Portugal where plans for one global government will be discussed.

World's richest person could become first trillionaire

Thu Apr 8 , 1999 -- Bill Gates, at 43, is already the first 100 billion dollar man, and will possibly become the world's first trillionaire by the year 2004 if it continues growing at the 61% compound annual rate he has achieved so far. According to the Daily Telegraph, he made about $4,566,000 for every hour of the past year,

The paper also states that his current wealth exceeds the economic output of all but the 18 wealthiest nations. In fact, if his wealth continues to snowball, his fortune will overtake Britain's gross national product in 2005.

Source: Weekend News Today (Story no longer on line)

MS Promises E-Commerce Nirvana

Mar. 4, 1999 - Bill Gates announced plans for e-commerce to increase by a factor of 10 with the help of Microsoft's solutions. Microsoft has started late, but wants to take the lead in this area which is now held by IBM, Sun, and Netscape.

Gates backs population control

Feb. 12, 1999 - This WorldNetDaily article says that Bill Gates, known as the richest man in the world (with combined wealth exceeding $100 billion), has made a $2.2 billion donation to the William H. Gates Foundation, a member of Partners in Population and Development, which falls within the scope of the United Nations Population Fund. Other major supporters of population control efforts are the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank, and the Hewlett Foundation.

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Antitrust Action Likely Against Microsoft

May 14, 1998 - The Federal Government and 19 states plan to file an antitrust complaint against Microsoft today, just weeks before the planned release of Windows 98. (Source: Infoseek/ Reuters) (Story lo longer on line)

A little HUMOR. (Thanks to Laugh-A-Lot!)

Microsoft Bids To Acquire Roman Catholic Church

IBM Buys Episcopal Church

Microsoft hearing ends with a clash

Mar. 3, 1998 - Bill Gates debated the question of whether or not Microsoft is a monolopy with Sen. Orin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate committee which is investigating the matter. Gates' arch-rivals, James Barksdale of Netscape Communications and Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems complained that Microsoft's practices were monopolistic. Audio and video clips are available with this article.

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Gates Library Foundation 1998 Grant Recipients

Feb. 24, 1998 - Bill and Melinda Gates have announced that more than 1,000 U.S. libraries will benefit from grants, representing more than $20 million for computers, technical assistance and training. The purpose of the program is to make the internet available to everyone.

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Fast Internet Access Sought

Jan. 20, 1998 - Microsoft, Compaq and Intel are working on new technology to radically improve internet speeds.

Microsoft Buys Hotmail Email Service

Jan. 2, 1998 - Microsoft has purchased Hotmail, a progressive Email service with powerful software which enables it to handle very large volumes of Email. Microsoft will use the aquisition to offer free Email to all Internet users.

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"More Great Fun Stuff To Come"

Nov. 17, 1997 - Bill Gates is the keynote speaker for this year's Comdex Convention in Las Vegas. In his keynote address from last night he suggested that speech recognition and the increase in wireless devices are two aspects that will move us toward the new goals of a "digital nervous system and a Web lifestyle."

Source: Comdex (Story no longer on line)

Bill Gates Buys $150 Million Apple Stock

On August 7, 1997 the computer world was stunned by the news that Bill Gates had infused new life into Apple Computer Corporation by agreeing to a $150 million non-voting investment in the troubled company. A fascinating aspect of the story was the fact that Steve Jobs, one of the original co-founders of Apple had asked Gates for the favor. Jobs left Apple in 1985, and was recently brought back to help reorganize the company. The announcement was made at the Macworld trade show in Boston, amid boos from Apple loyalists who have been conditioned over the years to consider Microsoft's co-founder, Bill Gates, their enemy.

Bill Gates, who is the richest man in the world, is also the most powerful person in the world of computers. Steve Jobs is also an incredibly potent influence in this industry which affects all of us. Neither of them appear to have an interest in Christianity. Jobs, who has sought for spiritual enlightenment in India, set the price of his original computer, the Apple I, at the symbolic price of $666.66. Today Jobs juggles various hi-tech interests, including Apple, and his latest creation: Pixar Inc., the computer animation studio that produced the film "Toy Story." Together, Gates and Jobs are a force that bears watching.

The Microsoft infusion of cash into Apple Computer is a typically brilliant strategy by Gates. Experts say that, technically, it thwarts Justice Department anti-trust action against Microsoft by preserving its the existence of its chief competitor, while, actually, buying a large measure of unofficial control in Apple. One of the agreements between Apple and Microsoft is to use Microsoft's Internet browser, giving them a considerable advantage over Netscape, their advancing competitor.

Recent strategic activities by Bill Gates have had the result of expanding his technological empire beyond the scope of the average person's imagination. Here are some of the recent acquisitions and alliances he has pursued:

MSNBC
July 15, 1996
This massive joint venture by the NBC television network and Microsoft Corporation is the only service of its kind, combining Television, Cable, and the Internet. This news empire claims an immediate reach of 22 million households.

TELEDESIC CORPORATION
March 17, 1997
Bill Gates and Craig McCaw form a company which plans to launch 840 satellites by the end of the year 2000, at a cost of $9 billion. The purpose of the satellites is to provide a high speed Internet service which will literally link the entire earth.

WEBTV
May 20, 1997
Microsoft, which already owns $5 million of WebTV stock hopes to buy control of the company, but may be blocked by Federal antitrust regulators. WebTV integrates television and the Internet.

COMCAST
June 11, 1997
Gates bought 11.5% of Comcast Corp., the fourth largest American cable company for $1.38 billion, setting the scene for development of a set-top unit that will deliver affordable broadband Internet service and digital television in the near future.

MICROSOFT RESEARCH LTD.
June 18, 1997
This represents an $80 million investment in a new organization which will work with Cambridge University to produce a stimulating environment for world-class computer researchers based in Europe.

PROGRESSIVE NETWORKS
July 22, 1997
Microsoft obtained a 10 percent non voting interest in this company which has established itself as the frontrunner in Web Broadcasting with their powerful RealAudio and RealVideo technologies.

All of this is of great interest to prophecy students who are expecting a world-wide computer network to be in place in the possibly near future to make Antichrist's economic dictatorship possible. NOTE: The focus is on the information system, not on the person. Antichrist will not be revealed until after the church is taken away, and the Holy Spirit, "The Restrainer," is removed. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-11).

Sources:

The Apple I
http://www.mcpb.com/html/apl1.html
http://196.2.18.61/pc/96feb/30jan-applehistory.html .

AOL News 8/7/97

Cyber Tech Archive
http://canoe2.canoe.ca/CyberTechArchive/home.html (Story no longer on line)

M.S.N.B.C.: Bill Gates' Big Adventure
http://nytsyn.com/live/Web/198_071696_114116_17193.html (Story no longer on line)

MSNBC Interactive . Launching The World's Most Advanced Online News Service
http://www.csidigital.com/cases/msnbci.htm (Story no longer on line)

840 Satellites Will Bring Internet To World Beginning 2000
http://patriot.net/~premil/we/wn/9703/17.html#858622354 (Story no longer on line)
http://www.teledesic.com/visualizations/inetsky.html (Story no longer on line)

U.S. eyeing Microsoft bid for WebTV
http://canoe2.canoe.ca/CyberTechArchive/may20_microsoft.html (Story no longer on line)

Rogers Lauds Microsoft-Comcast Deal As Historic
http://canoe2.canoe.ca/CyberTechArchive/jun11_rogers.html (Story no longer on line)

Microsoft Announces $80 Million British Investment
http://canoe2.canoe.ca/CyberTechArchive/jun18_microsoft.html (Story no longer on line)

U.S. News Online
Why Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Made Up
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/970818/18appl.htm

Progressive Networks Allies With Microsoft
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/daily/970722d.html

Other links of intetrest::

Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/

Apple Computer
http://www.apple.com/

MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.com

Teledesic Corporation
http://www.teledesic.com

Progressive Networks
www.real.com

Bill Gates' The Road Ahead
http://www.bri-dge.com/reviews/review2.html

Books about Bill

The Road Ahead

by Bill Gates

Hard Drive : Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire

by James Wallace, Jim Erickson

Overdrive : Bill Gates and the Race to Control Cyberspace

by James Wallace

Other Bill Gates Links:

Bill Gates: Not Necessarily The Antichrist - Satire about this page during Comdex '97

See features of The Prophecy Puzzle, Bible study software for prophecy students.