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David Bank

Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumbled the Future of Microsoft Hardcover – Bargain Price, August 13, 2001

by David Bank (Author)

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288 pages
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August 13, 2001
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000066TPP
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #16,860,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,889 in Computing Industry History
- #7,121 in Commerce (Books)
- #11,334 in Company Business Profiles (Books)

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16 ratings

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A. Valentine

Insight in to the Internal and External Struggles at MS

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2001

Verified Purchase

"Breaking Windows" is a must read for anyone interested in learning how the nut and bolts Microsoft's intellectual assets really function. This book gives great insight in to how Microsoft reacted to it's two most recent crises, the Internet and the DOJ. David Bank does a great job in explaining the many divisions, which exist at Microsoft but don't show up on the company's organizational chart. Themes such as "Windows Hawks" vs. "Internet Doves" and "Bill guys" vs. "Steve Guys" to name a few. Personally, this book has given me a clear vision on how it will deal with it's next big crisis, the Open Source Revolution.

5 people found this helpful

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Benjamin W. Slivka

I was there...

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2001

Verified Purchase

David Bank used to cover Microsoft for the Wall Street Journal. In this book he describes the period 1997-2000 at Microsoft as it coped with the success of Windows and Office and the threat of the Internet to the continuation of Microsoft's dominance. From e-mail snippets and interviews with many current and former Microsoft employees, he presents the "protect Windows" perspective of Bill Gates and Jim Allchin and contrasts that with the "do the new internet thing" perspective of people like Brad Silverberg and myself and others. Obviously Bill Gates prevailed and so a lot of people left. Overall I think a very balanced presentation -- you at least understand why Bill did what he did, even if you don't agree with his decision. Several juicy quotes from me. :-)

42 people found this helpful

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Terence Wilson

A Must Read - Highly Recommended

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2001

Verified Purchase

I couldn't put this wonderfully written book down. As an occasional Microsoft insider I can attest to the fact that Banks has done his homework and produced a comprehensive discussion of the technical & political wars at Redmond. We've all heard soundbites from the antitrust trail, this book gives the full story and more.

2 people found this helpful

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Leo Lim

Microsoft's Identity Crisis

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2006

Since Microsoft's ascendance to the top in the software industry, Bill Gates has always maintained that the company would never become another IBM but is Microsoft slowly trudging toward that path? David Banks tackles this question as he takes us inside Microsoft when it encountered its most significant inflection point of late - it's identity crisis in the middle of an antitrust trial.

On one end of the spectrum are the Windows hawks who steadfastly maintain that Microsoft continue to build its product initiatives around the flagship product and on the other, the Internet doves who believe a shift is required. Interestingly, if Microsoft sided with the doves there wouldn't have been an antitrust trial.

Not unlike other companies, a lot of vetting is done by Microsoft over strategic decisions. An example of which was the response to Judge Jackson's request to decouple IE from Windows. In this case, Bill, err Microsoft decided to risk contempt of court in favor of programmatical correctness.

The book ultimately begs the question, "If Microsoft were to side with the Internet doves then what would the profit-making strategy be?" Sure there is a lot of clamor to adopt open standards which will generate a lot of goodwill however, this doesn't do anything in terms of providing actual revenue. Imagine Sun charging people for using Java or the Linux community charging for Linux and you would get my point.

If an embrace of the open-source movement is done, the customers will indeed win but this would also signify a commoditization of the software industry i.e. each solution has become generic and indistinguishable from all the others. I believe this is what Gates is fighting tooth and nail to prevent. This year's release of Vista gives us a clue who continues to call the shots at Microsoft, Chief Software Architect position notwithstanding. Gates is right but only because of the dearth of other viable profit-making alternatives.

Meanwhile in a warehouse far, far away...

One person found this helpful

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Tracy Brown

Detailed look at Microsoft

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2001

This book provides a very detailed look at the inner workings of Microsoft. It describes the battles within the company to determine how to change in the face of the internet revolution. The author provides tremendous detail, much of which is taken from email correspondence made public by the antri-trust case. Some of the detail may be a little dull for some. My major problem with the book is with the author's premise that Gates has "broken" the company by not adapting to the internet quickly enough and instead focused on protecting and extending the windows dynasty. Nobody has really figured out how to make money off the internet, so why blame Microsoft? Gates did protect the Microsoft cash cow (windows). The internet has not made windows extinct, at least not yet. I think a little time is required to see if Gates' strategy was the right one or not. However, still a very worthwhile read for any interested in Microsoft and the PC industry.

11 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Eddie-B

Fascinating story.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

I bought this from Amazon as a 2nd hand book , now more than 10 years old. The book is an extremely good read if you are interested in the Microsoft/Gates era around 1995 to 2000. This well researched and well written book details the internal struggle at Microsoft during the emergence of the internet between those who "got it" and those who just wanted to keep cranking out software that Microsoft could use to keep the revenue coming in (i.e. Gates himself). the author clearly has a good understanding of events and relates the time that Bill Gates was forced to step down in favour of Steve Ballmer. The also book stands up well in the light of events of the last decade where for every success, Microsoft has at least one big failure:- Office still sells well, Microsoft 7 was well received, and the XBOX is a success but Vista, the Zune, KIN phone etc just never floated. Microsoft continues to struggle to escape an image of "naffness".

DMc

When money no longer matters..

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

Entertaining narrative about the central role that Bill Gates plays but how others navigate around him. Insightful and informative but also a great read.

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