Control-Alt-Delete to log in to PC was a mistake - Gates

By Rizza Sta. Ana

Sep 26, 2013 12:36 PM EDT

According to an article by information technology and Internet news site The Verge, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates admitted finally that having a Control-Alt-Delete function to log into Microsoft's earlier Personal Computer or PC was a mistake.

The revelation happened in a Harvard fundraising campaign interview. "We could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't wanna give us our single button," Gates said to his audience who had laughed at his honest admission. IBM ex-engineer David Bradley, however, made Gates' admission awkward when he said in an earlier interview, "I may have invented it (keyboard reboot combination), but Bill made it famous." The keyboard combination is still available even on Windows 8.

Gates also admitted that Microsoft had missed their opportunity in the mobile market. "We didn't miss cellphones, but the way that we went about it didn't allow us to get the leadership." Though Gates sit as chairman of Microsoft, the Steve Ballmer-led tech company had failed to secure a significant share in the smartphones and tablets market. In a Microsoft financial analysts meeting, Ballmer, who is chief executive until his retirement within the next 12 months, said, "I regret there was a period in the early 2000s when we were so focused on what we had to do around Windows [Vista] that we weren't able to redeploy talent to the new device called the phone."

In its earnings report ended June 30, Microsoft said it has earned revenues of USD19.90 billion, and wrote off USD900 million in Surface RT inventory adjustments.

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