Drew Spurgers
Ms. Choate
Pre-AP English, 2nd Period
30 January 2006
Microsoft and Bill Gates
Computers are one of the most important items in today’s world. They run most things humans use, including everything from life-sustaining machines used in surgery to the alarm clocks that wake the world up every morning. “Microsoft has sold its products to 180 million people all around the world. Since 1988, the company has been the number one software vendor in the world” (Ferry 24). The people who create computers and software have great influence on our society. Microsoft and Bill Gates have achieved success on a number of levels, and they continue to advance as leaders of our time.
William H. Gates, or “Bill Gates, was born October 28, 1955 in Seattle, Washington. He is cofounder, chairman, and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation.” His parents are “Will H. Gates, Sr., a lawyer, and Mary Maxwell Gates, a teacher… [Gates] excelled in elementary school, particularly in mathematic and sciences. His parents enrolled him at Lakeside School, a prestigious preparatory school” (“Bill Gates”). “He discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13” (“William H. Gates”). “While in high school, he and Paul Allen founded Traf-o-Data, a company which sold traffic flow systems to state governments. He also helped to create a payroll system in COBOL (a programming language), for a company in Portland, Oregon… Gates is said to have scored a 1590 on his SAT’s. [He] enrolled in Harvard University, where he met Steve Ballmer,” who is his business partner at Microsoft. “Gates dropped out of Harvard during his third year to pursue a career in software development… Gates served as the CEO of [Microsoft] until 2000, when Steve Ballmer took the position. Gates continues to serve as chairman of the board at the company, and also a position he created for himself entitled ‘Chief Software Architect’” (“Bill Gates”).
Gates is still...