Microsoft has had clear competitors in the past. It's a good thing we have museums to document that.

When you are failing, you are forced to be creative, to dig deep and think, night and day.

Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved. Eliminate politics, by giving everybody the same message. Keep a flat organization in which all issues are discussed openly. Empower teams to do their own things.

There was a magical breakthrough when the computer became cheap and we could see that everyone could afford a computer.

There are more people dying of malaria than any specific cancer.

Creating a piece of software is always complicated because you're doing something new. If you just wanted something that had been done before you'd just use that old piece of software. So there are no repetitive tasks.

My guideline has always been to avoid a focus on me personally. Not because of any deep, dark secrets. Rather just a sense of privacy.