Microsoft Chief Bombarded With Scores Of Messages A Day

Here is a list of the top-10 questions readers of this column have asked me since the first of the year. In the jargon of the Internet, this is my list of FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions.

10. When will Microsoft Windows 95 be available?

For months this was the most-asked question. I see it much less often now because it is widely known that the English-language version of Windows 95 is scheduled to be out Aug. 24.

Windows 95 is scheduled to be released in seven major European languages in September. The Japanese, Korean and Chinese versions are scheduled to be out in January - and, yes, the East Asian versions will be called “Windows 95” even though they will hit the market at the first of 1996.

9. Do you read your own e-mail?

Yes, for the most part. I spend a significant part of each day reading e-mail, including thousands of messages a year from strangers. I receive at least 100 messages a day, and typically send several dozen to Microsoft employees and business partners.

I’m not the only person who reads e-mail sent to askbill(AT)microsoft.com, but I’m the one who chooses which questions to answer and decides how to answer them. Everyone who writes gets an automatic thank you, in which I remind them that I can’t answer questions individually.

I get some pretty cynical messages sometimes. For example, a reader in Denmark sent this e-mail:

“Someone told me that you can be contacted by e-mail. I do not believe that you would want to read letters from ‘nobodies’ like me. Sex; money; friend; MS-DOS; important; access … I’ll bet that this letter is never even seen by a human. (So why am I writing?) (STOP).”

Presumably he included words such as “sex” so that the message would attract attention if it was searched electronically. I got a kick out of this.

8. Given your money and success, how do you stay motivated?

Why do I continue to work hard rather than retire? The answer is simple: I do what I find interesting and challenging, and I think I have the best job in the world.

Most people struggle on one level or another for economic security. What would they do once they had it? Would they play tennis all day? Would they read books?

I like recreation and I love to read books, but the most enjoyable challenges come from work. I’m nowhere near retiring.

7. Will Microsoft support other computing platforms?

Some readers implore Microsoft to make its applications, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, available on computing platforms such as Amiga and OS/2.

Adapting applications to work on additional platforms is expensive. In the early years of OS/2, we created a lot of applications for it, and although we were the market leader, we didn’t sell very many and it wasn’t profitable. Amiga has even fewer users than OS/2.

That’s why Microsoft, like almost all other successful software companies, focuses its resources on Windows and the Macintosh.

The Mac is an excellent platform. Apple, like every high-technology company, must continue to innovate. If it does, it will do well - and we’ll do well selling applications software for the Macintosh.

One platform we’re not supporting with new applications is MS-DOS. The graphical interface represented by Windows and the Macintosh is mainstream now. You’ll still be able to run MS-DOS-based applications through Windows 95, though.

6. May I have a job?

This is a question to which I like answering “yes.” Whenever resumes come to me via e-mail, I forward them electronically to y-wait(AT)microsoft.com, the best address for resumes.

Microsoft also receives between 6,000 and 8,000 paper resumes a month. These are scanned and stored in an electronic database, so that we can view them online.

5. May I have money?

I am offered countless opportunities to invest or make charitable contributions, gifts or loans. Some people want a few hundred dollars, some a few hundred million.

People get bold on e-mail. The other day I got a message titled, “How about a mil?” A Canadian recently wrote “a reply would be nice (also if you slapped me a few million).” I get a lot of this.

Spending money intelligently is as difficult as earning it. Giving away money in meaningful ways will be a main preoccupation later in my life - assuming I still have a lot to give away.

4. Will I have to upgrade my computer to run Windows 95?

Some of the excitement people have about a major upgrade to Windows is tempered by fear that their computers aren’t powerful enough to run it.

You can run Windows 95 on a 386 computer with four megabytes of RAM, but we recommend eight megs for better performance. If you’re going to upgrade to more powerful applications, more memory is better. My laptop computer has 12 megs.

If you are upgrading, for typical installation Windows 95 requires about 40 megabytes of free hard-disk space. A few years ago this additional hard-disk space would have been an expensive requirement, but disks are plunging in price and most new personal computers are equipped with hundreds of megs of storage.

3. How can I get ahead?

Many people, especially students, seek generic advice. “What’s the secret of your success?” is a common question - and a hard one to answer. I try, though. My last column - on the importance of long-term thinking - was one attempt.

2. What does the future hold?

Who really knows?

I’m an optimist about what technology will allow, and I spend a lot of time thinking about the future. Recently I’ve been putting finishing touches on a book on the subject. It is titled “The Road Ahead.”

1. Will you do my homework?

Several students a week ask for help with their schoolwork. Sometimes the requests are appealing, as when a 10-year-old writing a report wants to know about my childhood. Other times the requests are presumptuous, as when a graduate student sends a 15-part questionnaire asking me to write essays on various topics.

Years ago, I tried answering some of these homework questions. But then I figured out what I was getting into, and how many hours a week it would take. So these inquiries, like most others, remain unanswered.

Even though I can answer only a tiny percentage of the mail I receive, I really do pay attention to much of it. Reading e-mail helps me gauge how Microsoft is doing as a company, and so I thank you for the thousands of thoughtful questions, comments and suggestions.

xxxx