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Barbarians led by Bill Gates
How has Microsoft been able to crush its competition every step of the way? The company's own version of history ascribes it to something like "really great technical innovation." Barbarians Led by Bill Gates presents a harsher and messier history, sharply questioning Microsoft's ethics and corporate wisdom while underscoring its fierce will to compete. The authors present a history of Microsoft from the early '80s to the present, covering the big projects, both successes and failures, that defined the company's direction. It's a difficult story to tell, filled with complex technology and a large cast of characters who are rarely in the public eye. Perhaps the most surprising thing to emerge is how many Microsoft ventures were mismanaged and how many opportunities were missed. The best-known of these is Microsoft's near-catastrophic failure to see the arrival and success of the Internet. The book also details the unplanned success of Windows 3.0, the demise of Pen Windows (which annihilated GO Corp. and its promising Penpoint operating system but little else), and the compromised design and slow success of Windows 95. A final chapter tackles the Netscape-Microsoft Web-browser war and Microsoft's head-on collision with the Justice Department. Both authors are, in different ways, Microsoft insiders. Jennifer Edstrom is the daughter of Pam Edstrom, Gates's long-time PR chief and spin doctor. Marlin Eller is a 13-year veteran Microsoft developer who has worked on DOS, early versions of Windows, and pen computing. Both stand open to the charge of having an ax to grind, and the reader senses a lot of personal animosity at work. Yet anyone who has followed Microsoft for any length of time will recognize most of the war stories from other sources, and most of the new information presented has the ring, at least, of probability. Indeed, the value of this book is not so much in presenting new information as in marshaling it to paint a portrait of a company that has largely escaped this sort of scrutiny. --Thomas Mace
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 22, 2010
This book is fascinating first hand stories directly from a dev lead who worked on various things in early Microsoft (late 70s to early 90s). The title and cover design of this book is truly unfortunate because this book isn't as biased or as negative on Bill Gates as it sounds. Infect I find this book very well balanced and honestly written to give reader taste of what's going on without any restraints and plenty of first hand communications. The stories are written in very engaging and entertaining way (I tried to avoid the book at night because I can't put it down making me get up late next morning!).
There are so many quotes, private communication, meetings etc disclosed that I find hard to believe that this book is even legally out and people haven't sued each other (or may be they have). For example, authors describe in full detail how team sent a spy to record prototype of first tablet from competitor company GO and tried to copy it as Pen Windows product. It's tantalizing to know from a lead of Microsoft's little known Pen Windows that it's entire purpose was to put other company out of business and thereby eliminating threat to OS business. He also gives first hand account of meetings that describes how Bill Gates was obsessed with first Mac and was pressing hard on Windows 1.0 team to make Windows look like Mac even if it meant taking out features. There are lots of inside stories that I'd heard elsewhere but actually originated from this book like the time when Steve Ballmer intentionally called 9 AM meeting on Easter Sunday without any real agenda and threatened to take attendance just to see if the team was "committed". There are many of author's encounters with his manager Nathan Myhrvold which will remind many in software profession of similar personalities. From all these stories Bill Gates comes out as very normal guy, neither genius nor evil, who made tones of mistakes, blew millions of dollars on unnecessary projects, frequently hired incompetent people and gave no strategic directions when one was required. Authors have, however, prevented giving opinions most of the time and stayed focused describing first-hand account of on series of events with actual conversations that went on except in last few chapters. In any case I remain baffled why authors decided to have title and such an armaturish front cover that otherwise gives impression that this book is about typical anti-Microsoft and anti-Gates rants. Infect author defends Microsoft on many occasions and how Gates respected his agreements like one with Apple by forbidding developers on Windows 1.0 to take a look at Mac prototype until it was released.
This is by no means complete or rigorous account of early Microsoft. Stories are mostly limited to the groups that authors actually worked in and pretty good feel of how the characters such as Gates, Mundie, Myhrvold, Rikes etc worked. Author also gives pretty good taste of Microsoft small enough when author and Gates had offices on same floor to the times when there were several layers of management between them. There is not much of a detailed account of already popular events like Windows NT race, IBM divorce etc covered in other books (Hard Drive, Show Stoppers etc) but this book sets itself apart by holding its own where other books haven't ventured in parts of Microsoft's history. Highly recommended for all Microsoft enthusiasts.
There are so many quotes, private communication, meetings etc disclosed that I find hard to believe that this book is even legally out and people haven't sued each other (or may be they have). For example, authors describe in full detail how team sent a spy to record prototype of first tablet from competitor company GO and tried to copy it as Pen Windows product. It's tantalizing to know from a lead of Microsoft's little known Pen Windows that it's entire purpose was to put other company out of business and thereby eliminating threat to OS business. He also gives first hand account of meetings that describes how Bill Gates was obsessed with first Mac and was pressing hard on Windows 1.0 team to make Windows look like Mac even if it meant taking out features. There are lots of inside stories that I'd heard elsewhere but actually originated from this book like the time when Steve Ballmer intentionally called 9 AM meeting on Easter Sunday without any real agenda and threatened to take attendance just to see if the team was "committed". There are many of author's encounters with his manager Nathan Myhrvold which will remind many in software profession of similar personalities. From all these stories Bill Gates comes out as very normal guy, neither genius nor evil, who made tones of mistakes, blew millions of dollars on unnecessary projects, frequently hired incompetent people and gave no strategic directions when one was required. Authors have, however, prevented giving opinions most of the time and stayed focused describing first-hand account of on series of events with actual conversations that went on except in last few chapters. In any case I remain baffled why authors decided to have title and such an armaturish front cover that otherwise gives impression that this book is about typical anti-Microsoft and anti-Gates rants. Infect author defends Microsoft on many occasions and how Gates respected his agreements like one with Apple by forbidding developers on Windows 1.0 to take a look at Mac prototype until it was released.
This is by no means complete or rigorous account of early Microsoft. Stories are mostly limited to the groups that authors actually worked in and pretty good feel of how the characters such as Gates, Mundie, Myhrvold, Rikes etc worked. Author also gives pretty good taste of Microsoft small enough when author and Gates had offices on same floor to the times when there were several layers of management between them. There is not much of a detailed account of already popular events like Windows NT race, IBM divorce etc covered in other books (Hard Drive, Show Stoppers etc) but this book sets itself apart by holding its own where other books haven't ventured in parts of Microsoft's history. Highly recommended for all Microsoft enthusiasts.
August 1, 2008
Leo Laporte mentioned this book on TWiT. (This Week in Tech is an Internet radio show OK, podcast that has an audience of about 250,000 people each week. www.twit.tv)
I decided that I should pick up a copy and bone up on some of the behind the scenes stuff that was going on back in the early days at Microsoft.
I am really glad I did. I was able to fill in some back story on a lot of people whose names I have heard but didn't really know much about.
If you are even a little curious, check this one out!
September 8, 2013
I still enjoy re-reading this book recently (before I donating it).
I still don't believe the position in defending IE from Microsoft side, as written in last chapter. The "browser war" as we know, many innovative products & companies were killed by gate & his team, else the power of the Internet will be much bigger than we can imagining.
I still don't believe the position in defending IE from Microsoft side, as written in last chapter. The "browser war" as we know, many innovative products & companies were killed by gate & his team, else the power of the Internet will be much bigger than we can imagining.
October 22, 2025
Looking through the Windows
"Nathan Myhrvold's pudgy fingers whirred across the keyboard as he peered into his 21-inch monitor."
The first sentence of this insider's account tells you pretty much all you need to know about the rest of the book: that the author is not a fan of Myhrvold (at the time Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft), that he's going to try and make software development and - well, typing - sound exciting, and that it was written a very long time ago, when the size of your monitor was something noteworthy, and to be envied. As such, the stories about the battles within Microsoft between the Windows NT and Windows 95 groups, the changing priorities on OS/2 and the relationship between Internet Explorer and Windows 98 can seem arcane (if, like me, you can remember them) or irrelevant at this distance, but they're told in a lively and entertaining fashion.
One peculiar aspect of this book is that the main author (who worked at Microsoft, and was embroiled in the technical conflicts described here) chooses to write in the third person, as if he was a character in the narrative. This doesn't always make for a well-rounded, objective account of the company's fortunes during this period, but it provides an interesting insider's view on how things ended up the way they did.
Originally reviewed 15 April 2019
"Nathan Myhrvold's pudgy fingers whirred across the keyboard as he peered into his 21-inch monitor."
The first sentence of this insider's account tells you pretty much all you need to know about the rest of the book: that the author is not a fan of Myhrvold (at the time Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft), that he's going to try and make software development and - well, typing - sound exciting, and that it was written a very long time ago, when the size of your monitor was something noteworthy, and to be envied. As such, the stories about the battles within Microsoft between the Windows NT and Windows 95 groups, the changing priorities on OS/2 and the relationship between Internet Explorer and Windows 98 can seem arcane (if, like me, you can remember them) or irrelevant at this distance, but they're told in a lively and entertaining fashion.
One peculiar aspect of this book is that the main author (who worked at Microsoft, and was embroiled in the technical conflicts described here) chooses to write in the third person, as if he was a character in the narrative. This doesn't always make for a well-rounded, objective account of the company's fortunes during this period, but it provides an interesting insider's view on how things ended up the way they did.
Originally reviewed 15 April 2019
June 15, 2025
Being involved in technology and a heavy user of early Microsoft products, this was a must read for me. I enjoyed the book because it gave me insight into Microsoft, Bill Gates and Microsoft products. How ruthless he was, and the war with Apple, hardware vendors, and employees. It is definitely an eye-opener.
July 13, 2020
Really interesting account of early(ish) history of Microsoft. It's written from a single perspective, but I like how it breaks down the idea that things were meant to be. The pivotal moment seems to be a skunkworks project that enables Windows to run in protected mode.
February 2, 2019
This kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish, I had no idea about the court cases, microsofts disorganization, or the elements that were pure luck.
August 25, 2023
Covering most of the material from Hard Drive and Over Drive the book is mostly a ghost written account of Eller’s thirteen years in the pre internet Microsoft.
August 21, 2013
Amusing, but I wonder if the author(s) had too many axes to grind to be objective.
It's funny, but less relevant over time as Bill G is far from the picture. He's either patenting the world-ending virus, donating money to fight the world-ending virus, or hiding from the world-ending virus.
As nutty as he could be, when the same traits are in Steve Jobs it's all about the heroism. I think some irrational behavior is to be expected from software giants. They aren't meant to think about the average, or what ought to be possible, or benchmarking. They oversell. They push teams beyond all possible belief. They annoy conventional types who then wonder why they aren't richer.
Look, then, at what came later. Jack Welch passed the baton to Jeff Immelt, and GE probably won't survive. Bill passed it to Steve Ballmer, and MSFT has at least appeared to survive so far.
It's funny, but less relevant over time as Bill G is far from the picture. He's either patenting the world-ending virus, donating money to fight the world-ending virus, or hiding from the world-ending virus.
As nutty as he could be, when the same traits are in Steve Jobs it's all about the heroism. I think some irrational behavior is to be expected from software giants. They aren't meant to think about the average, or what ought to be possible, or benchmarking. They oversell. They push teams beyond all possible belief. They annoy conventional types who then wonder why they aren't richer.
Look, then, at what came later. Jack Welch passed the baton to Jeff Immelt, and GE probably won't survive. Bill passed it to Steve Ballmer, and MSFT has at least appeared to survive so far.
September 30, 2021
This book is really not for a general audience but if you started programming windows back in the DOS days, right up to cell phones, living through the crazy releases, law suits, and bugs, it is fantastic. It helps to see the other side of the API's and systems (16/32/64 client/sever) at various stages and realize the agony we went through using the libraries was an equal pain for the developers. Backward compatiblity rules.
March 30, 2013
An optional-read biograpy on leadership for knowledge workers, managers, directors, C-levels, and entrepreneurs.
September 9, 2014
Entertaining angle on the rise of Microsoft.
July 19, 2015
A novel... best describing Gates and his ways. Kind of Inspirational too.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews