Gates Speaks via Satellite to 400 Top Executives from Leading European Software Companies

Redmond, Wash., July 8, 1998 — In a speech via satellite this morning to the SYNERGY Europe 98 conference in Monte Carlo, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates told more than 400 leading European software executives that a lot of Microsoft’s success has been due to its successful collaboration with software developers, who build the applications that run on its Windows operating systems.

“When you think about an operating system, it doesn’t do much by itself, Gates said. “The only reason people pick a particular operating system is because applications run there. And applications have to be very broad. We need literally tens of thousands of applications to cover all the different requirements all over the world. And pushing those standards, getting the information out, working with developers, has been something that has been important to us from the very beginning.”

Gates also talked about the incredible opportunities being created worldwide by the Internet and how that is changing the information technology industry.

“The Internet is not a fad. It’s something that every year just simply gets more and more important,” Gates said. “Even though in the United States this is further along, the benefits that people are seeing here are really global in nature. No country will be outside the changes that are coming through the Internet.”

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