They crushed competitors with the motto "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish", where they'd start to embrace an open standard, extend it with their own customizations, and use that to crush the competition.
They tried to do it with Java, but Sun prevailed in a lawsuit against them.
Before that they crushed word processor rival WordPerfect (though arguably, WP did not handle the migration to GUI properly), and spreadsheet rival Lotus 1-2-3 this way. They leveraged their control of the Platform (Windows) to control any software market they wanted, such as internet browsers, crushing Netscape, leading to an anti-trust lawsuit [1] that almost caused Microsoft to have to split up (arguably saved by Bush Jr. being elected to office).
There was also the SCO lawsuit against Linux, but that was after Bill Gates stepped down from CEO, so it's at Steve Ballmer's feet.
Needless to say, he (& Microsoft) accumulated so much ill will that it basically required a generation turnover (as you've demonstrated ;) ) to forget.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor....
What shitty things did you do 25 years ago you're willing to let me judge current you on?
My point is, it's quite easy to make claims without proof. I know next to nothing about "new" Gates or "ruthless son of a bitch" Gates. Your claim that Gates has not changed needs some sort of evidence to be taken seriously.
You're 25 years younger in a corporate environment that has thoroughly taken control of this kind of thing.
> BillG said, in effect, that the prank was not in good taste, and that it made Microsoft look stupid rather than clever - especially as a catch-up to Sun Microsystems.
He was pissed because, while a "joke", it was an valid and accurate criticism as well. Sun was miles ahead of Microsoft and many other companies, in several different ways. Microsoft dominated because Gates was a ruthless son of a bitch who repeatedly broke laws that were poorly enforced back then.
I had a whole tirade typed out, but I realized that HN is full of true believers in the "New Bill Gates". I'm not. He's trying to buy a legacy so he can overwrite the shit one he had when he was at the helm of Microsoft. Sadly, it'll work because people have short memories.