posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 5:39 PM
by
roydictus
Great book: "Breaking Windows"
I just finished a great book, David Bank's 277-page "Breaking Windows -- How Bill Gates fumbled the future of Microsoft". The title suggests an anti-Microsoft book, but The Wall Street Journal reporter David Bank paints an objective and detailed picture of the period 1997-2001, which was a very difficult time for Microsoft and its senior management.
There were the difficult launches of MSN, Internet Explorer 4, and Windows 98; the battle inside the company between the diehard "Windows hawks" who cared only about protecting Windows and properietary technology and the "Internet doves" who wanted to use open standards such as XML in Microsoft products; and of course the many court cases including "the one" that nearly broke the company in pieces. The title refers to the fact that Bill Gates at first didn't "get" XML, open standards and the Internet while there were real technology visionaries inside the company who realized how crucial support for open standards was in the times-that-were-a-changin'. It also refers to his hardball tactics against the government and the courts which cost the company dearly, not just in fines but also in loss of public image and an exodus of valued talent...
The book is a fascinating read and gives great insight in how Microsoft's senior management works, thinks up strategies and aligns the company along the lines of those strategies. This is one of the best Microsoft books I've ever read. If you want to learn what goes on at the top of MS, go get it!