Bill Gates defends Bing and Windows 8
Not surprisingly, the Microsoft chairman says Bing and Windows 8 are great products. He also talks about Steve Jobs, Spinal Tap, and polio during a Reddit "ask me anything" session.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told Reddit users today that Bing is a "better product" than Google and that Windows 8 is a "huge advance."
A Redditor asked the ridiculously wealthy philanthropist during a Reddit Q&A event, dubbed an an "ask me anything" session, "Do you guys really use Bing? I mean seriously..."
Gates referencedBing's campaign to prove that it produces results faster than Google search: "Seriously Bing is the better product at this point. Try the challenge. I am biased but the work to make Bing better has been amazing."
Gates also stuck to his guns when asked if Windows 8 has failed. He responded that Windows 8 is "a huge advance for Windows which people will see even more as the great applications and hardware come out."
When a Redditor posted, "Windows 7 or Windows 8? Be honest Bill," Gates simply responded, "Higher is better."
In addition to keeping up his Microsoft loyalties, Gates discussed his personal life, philanthropy, and other ideas on tech during the session, which lasted more than an hour. Gates also talked about his greatest product regret: WinFS, a database technology that never made it to market.
Although Gates is known for his contributions to technology, he let the Reddit community know early on that his full-time focus now is on the foundation he and his wife, Melinda Gates, started.
"Melinda and I believe that everyone deserves the chance for a healthy and productive life -- and so with the help of our amazing partners, we are working to find innovative ways to help people in need all over the world," he wrote in his introduction post under the handle thisisbillgates.
Gates won over Redditors quickly, answering questions swiftly and even responding to follow-up questions. Of course, he was using a Surface Pro, which he wrote "is very nice" and "will come down in price over time and be pervasive."
He wouldn't say if he's ever owned a Mac, but he did say that he has tried all of Apple's products "from time to time," and commented on his relationship with late Apple CEO Steve Jobs:
He and I respected each other. Our biggest joint project was the Mac where Microsoft had more people on the project than Apple did as we wrote a lot of applications. I saw Steve regularly over the years including spending an afternoon with him a few months before he tragically passed away...
When asked about the next big thing in tech, Gates talked about technology that helps you interact with computers:
Robots, pervasive screens, speech interaction will all change the way we look at "computers." Once seeing, hearing, and reading (including handwriting) work very well, you will interact in new ways...
Gates also shared his thoughts on the eradication of polio, leaving his kids a $10 million trust fund instead of $100 million, and waiting for Spinal Tap to go back on tour. He added a dose of humor all along the way.
Before his session started, Gates posted an animation on YouTube answering three of the more popular questions he expected, including whether he would rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck.
Then, to bid the Redditors farewell, Gates linked to this meme:
