ممالك النار

ممالك النار، مسلسل دراما عربي مشترك تاريخي من إنتاج شركة جينوميديا الإماراتية سنة 2019، من تأليف محمد سليمان عبد الملك وإخراج المخرج البريطاني بيتر ويبر.

تولت إدارة إنتاج المسلسل شركة إماراتية، وصور بأكمله في تونس بكلفة تقدر بمائة مليون دينار تونسي (40 مليون دولار أميركي)، وعرض للمرة الأولى بدءًا من يوم 17 نوفمبر 2019 على قنوات أم بي سي 1، إم بي سي مصر، أم بي سي برسيا وإم بي سي العراق وإم بي سي 5، وسيعرض لاحقاً عبر شبكة نتفليكس في بقية بلدان العالم
قصة العمل
يوثق المسلسل الحقبة الأخيرة من دولة المماليك وسقوطها على يد العثمانيين في بدايات القرن السادس عشر، مسلطاً الضوء على مرحلة في التاريخ العربي ثرية في الأحداث، كاشفاً العديد من الحقائق حول هذه الحقبة.
الفنيين
يضم فريق عمل المسلسل عدداً كبيراً من النجوم العالميين في مجالات صناعة الدراما منها الديكور، الملابس والماكياج من إيطاليا، كولومبيا وأستراليا، ومنهم لويجي ماركيوني الذي عمل مع مخرجين عالميين مثل جوزيبي تورناتوري وريدلي سكوت

List of highest-grossing R-rated films

This is a list of the highest-grossing R-rated films. An R-rated film is a film that has been assessed as having material which is unsuitable to be seen by children under the age of 17 by the Motion Picture Association of America; the MPAA writes "Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian

بيل غيتس

وليام هنري غيتس الثالث (بالإنجليزية: William Henry Gates III) المشهور باسم بيل غيتس، وبيل هو اختصار لاسم وليام في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية هو رجل أعمال ومبرمج أمريكي ومحسن (فاعل خير). أسس عام 1975 شركة مايكروسوفت مع بول آلان وقد صنع ثروته بنفسه  ويملك أكبر نصيب فردي من أسهمها المقدر بتسعة بالمئة من الأسهم المطروحة
ولد في سياتل، واشنطن في 28 أكتوبر 1955)م، وهو ابن وليام غيتس وماري ماكسويل غيتس، ولدى غيتس أخت كبرى (كريستاني) وأخت صغرى (ليبي). لقد كان بيل غيتس الاسم الرابع من عائلته (IV)، ولكن عرف بوليام غيتس الثالث (III)، لأن والده ترك لقبه بصفته الثالث (III) وهو من أصل إيرلندي - اسكتلندي (بريطاني). نشأ بيل غيتس في أسرة بروتستانتية تنتمي إلى الكنيسة الأبرشانية.

ترعرع الطفل بيل في عائلة ذات تاريخ عريق بالاشتغال في السياسة والأعمال والخدمة الاجتماعية. عمل والد جده محافظاً وعضواً في الهيئة التشريعية للولاية، وعمل جده نائبًا لرئيس بنك وطني، وكان والده محامياً بارزاً. كما شغلت والدته منصباً إدارياً في جامعة واشنطن، وكانت عضواً بارزاً في مجالس لمنظمات محلية وبنوك. من أجل ذلك لم يكن مستغرباً أن يظهر الطفل بيل الذكاء والطموح وروح المنافسة في وقت مبكر، فقد تفوق على زملائه في المدرسة الابتدائية وخاصة في الرياضيات والعلوم، وقد أدرك والداه ذكاءه المبكر مما حدا بهما لإلحاقه بمدرسة ليكسايد الخاصة والمعروفة ببيئتها الأكاديمية المتميزة، وكان لهذا القرار الأثر البالغ على حياة بيل ومستقبله، ففي هذه المدرسة تعرف بيل على الحاسوب لأول مرة.

خبرته الأولى بالحاسوب
في ربيع العام 1967م، قررت مدرسة ليكسايد شراء جهاز حاسوب لتعريف طلابها بعالم الحاسبات، وكانت أجهزة الحاسوب في ذلك الوقت ما تزال كبيرة الحجم ومكلفة، ولم تتمكن المدرسة من تحمل نفقات شراء جهاز الحاسوب، من أجل ذلك قررت المدرسة شراء حسابات مستخدمين بمدة زمنية محددة لطلبتها، مقدمة من شركة جنرال إلكتريك. ونظم مجلس الأمهات في المدرسة حملة تبرعات تم من خلالها جمع بضعة آلاف من الدولارات من أجل هذه الغاية.

ارتبط الطلبة مع حواسيب الشركة من خلال نظام متعدد المستخدمين عبر خط الهاتف في المدرسة؛ وكان لابد من أن توفر المدرسة لطلبتها جهازاً طرفياً يقوم الطلبة من خلاله بتحميل البرامج حتى يتم إرسالها عبر خط الهاتف إلى حواسيب الشركة، حيث تتم هناك عملية معالجتها ومن ثم إرسال النتائج للطلبة عبر خط الهاتف من جديد. ومن جديد تحمل مجلس الأمهات نفقة شراء جهاز طرفي من نوع (ASR-33) تتم تغذيته بالمعلومات من خلال شريط ورقي أصفر اللون.

ومنذ تلك اللحظة أصبح بيل شغوفاً بالحاسوب - وكان وقتئذ طالباً في الصف الثامن وعمره 13 عاماً - فقد أمضى غالبية وقته في غرفة الحاسوب في المدرسة منشغلاً بكتابة البرامج وتطبيقها لدرجة أنه أهمل واجباته وتغيب عن صفوفه الدراسية في بعض الأحيان. وفي هذه الغرفة تعرف بيل على بول آلان، طالب آخر يشاطره شغفه وانشغاله في الحواسيب، وخلال وقت قصير نمت بينهما صداقة وثيقة استمرت لسنوات عديدة. واستهلك الطلاب المدة الزمنية المخصصة لهم في وقت قياسي، ولم يتمكن مجلس الأمهات من تحمل أية نفقات إضافية، ما دفعهم للتفكير في مصدر آخر يوفر لهم حسابات مجانية وبزمن غير محدود.

اتفقت المدرسة لاحقاً ذلك العام مع شركة محلية تعرف باسم مؤسسة كومبيوتر سنتر (CCC) لتزويد الطلبة بمزيد من الزمن المخصص على الحاسوب، وكان نظام هذه الشركة يعمل على جهاز حاسوب من نوع (PDP-10)، وأقبل بيل وبقية الطلاب على هذا الحاسوب بشغف، وكانوا فضوليين تجاه نظامه، ولم يمض وقت طويل حتى بدأوا بإثارة المشاكل. فقد تسبب الطلاب بتعطيل النظام عدة مرات، وتمكنوا من كسر نظام الحماية على الحاسوب، كما قاموا بتعديل ملفات الحسابات الخاصة بهم للحصول على مدة زمنية أطول لاستخدام الحاسوب، مما دفع الشركة من حرمانهم لاستخدام النظام لأسابيع عدة.

بعد انتهاء مدة الحرمان توجه أربعة من طلاب المدرسة هم بيل غيتس، وبول آلان، وريك ويلاند، وكينت إيفانس إلى شركة CCC، وقدموا عرضاً يقتضي بأن يساعدوا الشركة في إيجاد أخطاء النظام والتي سببت الخروقات التي قام بها الطلاب مقابل أن تمنحهم الشركة زمناً مجانياً وغير محدود لاستخدام النظام. وبما أن الشركة قد سئمت من تعطل النظام واختراقه المتكرر وافقت على طلبهم وقررت أن تمنحهم هذه الفرصة.

شكل الطلاب الأربعة مجموعة أسموها "مبرمجو ليكسايد". وأتاحت هذه الفرصة للمجموعة إمكانية دراسة برامج النظام، واكتسبوا خبرة برمجية واسعة في لغات برمجة كانت شائعة في ذلك الوقت مثل بيسك، وفورتران، وليسب، وحتى لغة الآلة كما قاموا بإنتاج بعض برامج ألعاب.

الانطلاق تجاه مهنة العمر
في عام 1970م واجهت شركة CCC مشاكل مالية مما دفعها لإغلاق أبوابها في شهر مارس من ذلك العام. وبدأت المجموعة من جديد بالبحث عن من يمنحها فرصة لاستخدام الحاسوب، فوفر لهم والد بول آلان فرصة لاستخدام بعض حواسيب جامعة واشنطن حيث كان يعمل. لكن المجموعة لم تتوقف عند هذا الحد، فقد كانت بحاجة ماسة لمن يمنحها الفرصة لإظهار مهاراتها الحاسوبية، وبعد عام واحد وُظفت المجموعة من قبل شركة إنفورميشن ساينس، لكتابة برنامج لاحتساب رواتب موظفي الشركة باستخدام لغة البرمجة كوبول. ولأول مرة حصل الطلاب على ربح مادي مقابل موهبتهم الفذة. وبالإضافة لذلك منحت المجموعة حقوقاً للملكية على برامجها، وتم الاعتراف بها قانونيًا.

كان مشروع بيل وبول آلان التالي إنشاء شركة صغيرة خاصة بهما فقط أسمياها (Traf-O-Data)، وقاما بتصميم جهاز حاسوب صغير يهدف لقياس حركة المرور في الشوارع، واستخدما في تصميمه معالج إنتل 8008. حققت هذه الشركة الصغيرة ربحاً مقداره 20 ألف دولار أمريكي في عامها الأول، وكان بيل حينئذ في المرحلة الثانوية، واستمرت الشركة في العمل حتى دخول بيل الجامعة.

في خريف عام 1973م التحق بيل بجامعة هارفارد، ولم يكن حينئذٍ قد قرر بعد نوع الدراسة التي يرغب بها، فالتحق بمدرسة الحقوق التمهيدية كتجربة، لكن قلبه كان ما زال معلقاً بالحاسوب؛ فقد كان يقضي الليل ساهراً أمام الحاسوب في مختبرات الجامعة ومن ثم يقضي النهار نائماً في الصفوف الدراسية. كان صديقه بول آلان قد التحق بجامعة هارفارد أيضاً، وكانا يتقابلان بشكل مستمر ويتابعان التفكير والحلم بمشاريع مستقبلية لتطوير البرمجيات ونظم التشغيل.

في أحد أيام شهر ديسمبر من العام 1974م، وبينما كان بول آلان متوجهاً لزيارة صديقه بيل توقف أمام متجر صغير ليطلع على بعض المجلات، فوقع نظره على مجلة إلكترونيات شهيرة حيث ظهر على غلافها صورة لحاسوب ألتير 8800، وكتب تحت الملف: "أول حاسوب ميكروي مخصص للأغراض التجارية"، فاشترى بول المجلة وانطلق مسرعاً لرؤية بيل. أدرك الاثنان أن هذا الحاسوب يحمل معه فرصتهما الكبرى والتي طالما حلما بها. خلال أيام اتصل بيل بشركة ميتس الشركة المنتجة لحاسوب ألتير 8800، وأخبرهم أنه قد طور هو وزميله بول آلان (برنامج مترجم) للحاسوب مكتوباً بلغة البرمجة بيزيك "Altair BASIC - interpreter ".

وقد كانت هذه كذبة كبرى؛ فلم يكن بيل وآلان قد كتبا سطراً برمجياً واحداً لهذا الحاسوب ولم يشاهداه إلا في صور المجلة فقط ولم يمتلكا حتى معالج إنتل 8080 الذي يعمل عليه، لكن الشركة وافقت على مقابلتهما وتجريب النظام الجديد مما دفعهما للبدء بالعمل وبسرعة على كتابة البرنامج. كانت عملية كتابة البرنامج مَسؤُولِيَّة بيل غيتس، بينما بدأ بول آلان العمل على إيجاد طريقة لعمل محاكاة للحاسوب ألتير 8800 على أجهزة حاسوب "PDP-10" المتوفرة في الحرم الجامعي لتجريب البرنامج عليه. وبعد مرور ثمانية أسابيع من العمل المستمر (تقريباً في منتصف شهر فبراير من عام 1975م) شعر الاثنان أن برنامجهما صار جاهزاً، فاستقل بول آلان الطائرة متوجهاً إلى شركة ميتس لعرض البرنامج.

في اجتماع عقد في شركة ميتس وبحضور رئيس الشركة إد روبرت حمل بول البرنامج على حاسوب ألتير 8800، وبدأت عملية تشغيل البرنامج الحقيقية لأول مرة. وكانت المفاجأة، فقد عمل البرنامج بكل سلاسة ودون أي أخطاء، وجلس بول مدهوشاً من هذا الإنجاز العظيم، واتصل ببيل ليزف له البشرى السارة.

تعاقدت شركة ميتس مباشرة مع كل من بيل وبول لشراء حقوق الملكية للبرنامج، وعين بول آلان نائباً لرئيس قسم البرمجيات في الشركة. وبالمقابل ترك بيل جامعة هارفارد وانتقل للعمل مع بول في تطوير البرمجيات؛ فقد أدرك الاثنان أن المستقبل يكمن في سوق البرمجيات، وأن عليهما أن يتصدرا هذا الدرب.

ولادة شركة مايكروسوفت
في منتصف عام 1975م، وبعد النجاح الباهر الذي حققه كل من بيل غيتس وبول آلان مع شركة ميتس، قرر الاثنان إنشاء شراكة خاصة بينهما لتطوير البرامج، أسمياها شركة "Micro-Soft" وتشكل هذا الاسم من الكلمتين "Microcomputer" و"Software". حيث امتلك بيل غايتس نسبة 60% من حجم الشركة بينما حصل بول آلان على ال40% الباقية، واحتج بيل للحصول على الحصة الأكبر لتفرغه للعمل في الشركة، بينما كان بول ما يزال موظفاً بدوام كامل لدى شركة ميتس. وتعرض برنامج المترجم بيزيك الذي طورته شركة مايكروسوفت خلال هذه الفترة للسرقة والنسخ غير المشروع من قبل قراصنة الحاسوب مما أثار غضب بيل غيتس، ودفعه لكتابة رسالة للقراصنة في جريدة شركة ميتس الدورية "رسالة مفتوحة للهواة" تدين عمليات السرقة والقرصنة، وتؤكد على حق المبرمج في الحصول على ثمن إنتاجه من خلال بيع البرامج. ونتج عن هذه الرسالة ردود فعل عدائية في أوساط القرصنة. وفي المقابل حصل بيل على العديد من الرسائل التي تحمل اقتراحات لحل مشكلة القرصنة، حيث تضمن أحدها وضع البرنامج داخل رقاقة "ذاكرة القراءة فقط"، وبالتالي تصبح سطور البرنامج محفورة داخل رقاقة من السيليكون بدلاً من أن تدخل إلى الحاسوب من خلال شريط ورقي، مما يجعل عملية السرقة شبه مستحيلة، وكان هذا الحل الأمثل في نظر بيل وآلان، وقررا تطبيقه في المرات القادمة. وبالفعل فقد طورت شركة مايكروسوفت برنامج مترجم لشركة كومودور العالمية، وتم تضمين البرنامج لأول مرة داخل رقاقة ذاكرة القراءة فقط لحاسوب كومودور بت (Personal Electronic Transactor-Commodore PET).

ومع نهاية عام 1976م تم تسجيل مايكروسوفت رسمياً كشركة مستقلة، وبلغت أرباحها ما يقارب 104 ألفاً و216 دولاراً أمريكياً. واستقال بول آلان من شركة ميتس للعمل بدوام كامل لدى مايكروسوفت، واستمرت شركة مايكروسوفت في تطوير البرامج للأنظمة المختلفة.

الشراكة مع شركة آي بي إم
في عام 1980م، بدأت شركة آي بي إم العالمية مشروعاً عرف باسم مشروع مانهاتن لتصنيع حاسوب شخصي جديد عرف باسم (آي بي إم) ليستخدم في المكاتب والمنازل، وكانت الشركة بحاجة إلى نظام تشغيل للحاسوب الجديد؛ لذلك قامت بالاتصال بشركة مايكروسوفت في محاولة للحصول على النظام، لكن شركة مايكروسوفت لم تكن تمتلك نظام تشغيل جاهزاً للبيع في ذلك الوقت، فقامت باقتراح نظام تشغيل CP/M والذي طورته شركة ديجيتال ريسيرش، وبالفعل عملت شركة (آي بي إم) باقتراح بيل وتوجه مندوبون عن الشركة لمقابلة غاري كيلدال مؤسس شركة ديجيتال ريسيرش، ولكن فشل هذا اللقاء، فلم يكن غاري متواجداً أصلاً وقت اللقاء حيث كان قد ركب طائرة متوجهاً لمقابلة زبون آخر.

عادت شركة آي بي إم تطلب مساعدة بيل غيتس، وهذه المرة قرر هو أن يلبي حاجتهم ويزودهم شخصياً بنظام التشغيل المطلوب. فقام بيل غيتس وبول آلان بشراء الحقوق الكاملة لنظام التشغيل الجاهز QDOS (Quick & Dirty Operating System) من مطور النظام المبرمج تيم باترسن والذي كان يعمل حينئذ في شركة سياتل لمنتجات الحاسوب مقابل 50 ألف دولار أمريكي - ولم تعلن مايكروسوفت آنذاك لشركة سياتل عن السبب الحقيقي لشراء هذا النظام - وكان هذا النظام ملائماً للعمل مع معالج إنتل المستخدم في تصنيع جهاز حاسوب بي سي آي بي إم. وقامت مايكروسوفت بإعادة تسمية النظام مبدئياً ليصبح بي سي دوس.

وقد أصر بيل غيتس في اتفاق الشراكة الذي عقد بين مايكروسوفت وآي بي إم أن تكون شركة مايكروسوفت المزود الحصري لأنظمة التشغيل لكل الحواسيب الشخصية التابعة لشركة (آي بي إم)، بمعنى أن شركة (آي بي إم) ممنوعة من التعاقد مع أي شركة برمجيات أخرى لشراء أنظمة تشغيل لمنتجاتها. وفي المقابل يحق لشركة مايكروسوفت الاحتفاظ بالحقوق الكاملة لتطوير وبيع نظام التشغيل الخاص بها لمن تريد من الأفراد أو الشركات في محاولة منها للهيمنة على سوق البرمجيات، وأحد المواقف الطريفة الذي يذكرها بيل غيتس أنه اكتشف وهو ذاهب إلى أهم اجتماع في حياته مع شركة (آي بي إم) لعقد صفقة البيع أنه من دون ربطة عنق، فذهب إلى السوق وتأخر عن الاجتماع، وقال: "الأفضل أن أتأخر من أن أذهب بدون ربطة عنق".

وبالفعل قامت شركة مايكروسوفت بطرح نسخة من نظام التشغيل في السوق باسم جديد هو إم إس-دوس في العام 1981م. وجعلت منه نظاماً جذاباً، لأنه بيع بسعر ثابت وللجميع دون تخصيص لهوية المشتري – ففي السابق كانت أنظمة التشغيل تباع حصرياً لشركة معينة ليتم تشغيلها على أجهزة هذه الشركة فقط دون سواها، أما مع نظام التشغيل إم إس-دوس فقد انتهى زمن الاحتكار وأصبحت البرمجيات في متناول الجميع، وكان بيل غيتس يهدف من خلال ذلك لبناء قاعدة هائلة من مستخدمي منتجات مايكروسوفت، فيصبح بذلك المزود الرئيسي لكافة المستخدمين. وقدم المبرمج تيم باترسون استقالته من شركة سياتل لمنتجات الحاسوب ليصبح موظفاً لدى شركة مايكروسوفت. وفي 12 أغسطس 1981م أعلنت شركة آي بي إم عن الصدور الرسمي لحاسوب آي بي إم الشخصي.

في أعقاب هذه الأحداث نشب خلاف بين شركتي مايكروسوفت وسياتل لمنتجات الحاسوب، اتُهم فيه كل من بيل غيتس وبول آلان بالتصرف بطريقة تنافي أخلاقيات المهنة. فعندما قاما بشراء نظام التشغيل "كيو دوس" من شركة سياتل لم يذكرا أبداً أنهما في مفاوضات مع شركة آي بي إم لتطوير نظام تشغيل لها. وقامت شركة سياتل برفع دعوى قضائية على شركة مايكروسوفت على أساس الاحتيال والاستغلال لإتمام صفقة رابحة من خلال إخفاء معلومات مهمة عن طبيعة العلاقة التي تربطها بشركة (آي بي إم). وانتهت هذه القضية لاحقاً من خلال إجراء تسوية مالية خارج المحكمة بين الشركتين.

استقالة بول ألان
في نهاية عام 1982م أصيب بول ألين بمرض هودجكين، وهو نوع من أنواع السرطان النادر الذي يصيب النظام اللمفاوي في الجسم. وعلى أثره استقال بول آلان من شركة مايكروسوفت ليتفرغ للعلاج، وبذلك ترك بول آلان مايكروسوفت للأبد، لكن ذلك لم يمنع من استمرار الصداقة التي نشأت باكراً بين رفيقي ليكسايد حتى يومنا هذا.

ولادة مايكروسوفت ويندوز والمواجهة مع شركة أبل
في العام 1985م أنتجت مايكروسوفت النسخة الأولى من نظام تشغيل ويندوز 1.0، والذي استخدم واجهة التطبيق الرسومية (GUI) المستوحاة من نظام (Xerox PARC) بالإضافة لبعض أجزاء الواجهة المتوفرة في نظامي أبل ليزا، وماك (وقد سمحت شركة أبل للحاسوب لمايكروسوفت باستخدام هذه الأجزاء بناءً على اتفاق جرى بين الشركتين). وكان هذا النظام بديلاً لنظام التشغيل إم إس-دوس ومنافساً لأنظمة التشغيل الأخرى المتوفرة في السوق. مكّن هذا النظام الجديد المستخدمين من استخدام مؤشر الفأرة (mouse)، والتنقل بين عدة نوافذ في نفس الوقت، مع احتوائه على عدة تطبيقات مثل: برنامج المفكرة (notepad)، وتقويم سنوي، وساعة، وبرنامج الآلة الحاسبة، بالإضافة لإمكانية تفعيل نظام التشغيل إم-إس دوس.

وفي عام 1987م أنتجت شركة مايكروسوفت النسخة الثانية من نظام التشغيل ويندوز 2.0، وأضافت له بعض التحسينات مثل زيادة سرعة المعالجة وزيادة حجم ذاكرة الوصول العشوائي المستخدمة. بالإضافة لدعم النوافذ بخاصية التراكب، والتي تعني إمكانية فتح عدة نوافذ فوق بعضها البعض.

وفي أعقاب صدور النسخة الثانية من ويندوز رفعت شركة أبل للحاسوب في عام1988م دعوى قضائية ضد شركة مايكروسوفت تتهمها فيها بسرقة بعض العناصر الخاصة بواجهة التطبيق الرسومية لحاسوب أبل ماكنتوش واستخدامها في نظام التشغيل ويندوز. وفي عام 1990م وبعدما أنتجت شركة مايكروسوفت النسخة الثالثة من نظام التشغيل ويندوز 3.0 أضافت شركة أبل ادعاءات إضافية بالسرقة لدعواها القضائية.

وتعتبر أبل للحاسوب هي شركة رائدة في مجال تصنيع أجهزة الحاسوب وأنظمة التشغيل، نشأت في عام 1976م، وتنوعت إصداراتها من الحواسيب الشخصية مثل أبل 1، وأبل 2، وأبل ليزا، وأبل ماكنتوش (ماك). وتميزت هذه الإصدارات مثل أبل ليزا وماكنتوش باستخدام واجهة التطبيق الرسومية (GUI)، والتي تظهر فيها النوافذ والأيقونات والقوائم ومؤشر يوجه باستخدام الفأرة. وقد استخدمت واجهة التطبيق الرسومية لأول مرة في نظام يعرف باسم (Xerox PARC) في أوائل السبعينيات، وقد اعتمدت شركة أبل كثيراً على هذا النظام لتطوير واجهة التطبيق الرسومية الخاصة بها.

ادعت شركة أبل في دعواها القضائية أن شركة مايكروسوفت سرقت "الشكل والمضمون" لنظام تشغيل ماكنتوش، كاستخدامها بعض خواص النوافذ؛ من إمكانية فتحها على سطح المكتب وتغيير حجمها وتراكبها، وكونها مستطيلة الشكل، وتحتوي على شريط العنوان.

وبعد جدل طويل في القضية، أصر القاضي أن تقدم شركة أبل قائمة محددة بالعناصر المسروقة، فقدمت الشركة قائمة مكونة من 189 عنصراً. وبعد دراسة لهذه القائمة قرر القاضي أن 179 من هذه العناصر كان من حق شركة مايكروسوفت استخدامها بناءاً على الاتفاق الذي أبرم بين الشركتين عام 1985م، وقبل صدور النسخة الأولى من نظام التشغيل ويندوز. وأن العناصر العشر الباقية ليست ملكاً لشركة أبل كون بعضها كان مستوحاً أصلاً من نظام زيروكس، والبعض الآخر يمثل الطريقة الوحيدة للتعبير عن فكرة معينة. وبذلك خسرت أبل دعواها القضائية، بعد أربعة أعوام (أي عام 1992م) من النقاش الساخن.

يظن بعض النقاد أن شركة أبل لم تكن ترجو إدانة شركة مايكروسوفت بقدر ما كانت ترجو السيطرة على حقوق التصميم الكاملة لواجهات التطبيق الرسومية لكل الحواسيب الشخصية في السوق، لكن آمالها باءت بالفشل، ولم يثن ذلك من عزيمة شركة مايكروسوفت، بل أعطاها دفعة للأمام وشهرة إضافية، كما ساهم في نجاح الإصدار الثالث من نظام التشغيل ويندوز، حيث باعت مايكروسوفت ما يقارب 10 ملايين نسخة من هذا النظام في أول عامين، مما شرع لها أبواب السيطرة على سوق أنظمة التشغيل ليس في الولايات المتحدة فحسب بل في العالم أجمع. فانتقلت بذلك لتصبح أكبر شركة برمجيات في العالم، وجعلت أرباحها من بيل غيتس أغنى رجل في العالم.

استمرت شركة مايكروسوفت عاماً بعد عام بإصدار نسخ ناجحة من نظام التشغيل ويندوز مثل ويندوز 95، وويندوز 98، وويندوز 2000، وويندوز إكس بي، أما بالنسبة لويندوز فيستا فلم يحظ بمثل نجاحات أشقائه، وقامت الشركة بإصدار نظام ويندوز 7 في 22 أكتوبر 2009م، والذي حقق ما لم يحققه شقيقه الأكبر ويندوز فيستا، وأصدرت بعدهما نظام التشغيل ويندوز 8 الذي لم يتلقَّ الكثير من الانطباعات الحسنة، نظراً لتغير شكله وهويته، وافتقاده لقائمة إبدأ التي تميز سلسلة ويندوز، تبعه بعد ذلك ويندوز 10 الصادر حديثاً والذي أعيدت إليه قائمة إبدأ وبعض المميزات الجديدة .

إصدارات ناجحة من مايكروسوفت
أصدرت شركة مايكروسوفت خلال ثلاثين عاماً العديد من البرامج الإبداعية التي انتشرت في جميع أنحاء العالم ونالت إعجاب ملايين المستخدمين. ولعل أول ما يتبادر للأذهان عند ذكر اسم شركة مايكروسوفت حزمة البرامج المكتبية أوفيس التي أصدرت لأول مرة في العام 1989م، وتضم مجموعة من التطبيقات الشهيرة مثل: برنامج وورد وإكسل وباوربوينت وغيرها. وفي محاولة منها للمشاركة بثورة الإنترنت التي اكتسحت العالم أصدرت مايكروسوفت برنامج متصفح الإنترنت الشهير إكسبلورر في عام1994م، والذي يستخدمه حالياً حوالي 80% من مستخدمي شبكة الإنترنت حول العالم. كذلك أصدرت بعض التطبيقات الأساسية مثل: ActiveX وميكروسوفت إس كيو إل سيرفر ومحرك البحث الشهير إم إس إن، ثم قامت مايكروسوفت بإعادة تصميم للمحرك وأطلقته تحت الاسم التجاري بينغ وبحملة تسويقية ضخمة تقدر بـ100 مليون دولار أمريكي.

وأصدرت مايكروسوفت الموسوعة الإلكترونية إنكارتا في العام 1993م، والمتوفرة بسبع لغات عالمية، وتضم ما يقارب المئة ألف مقال مع الكثير من الصور ثنائية وثلاثية الأبعاد والمقاطع المصورة والرسوم التوضيحية والخطوط الزمنية، وتتميز الموسوعة بدرجة عالية من الدقة والحيادية ونتيجة للأزمة المالية التي عصفت بالعالم أجمع اضطرت مايكروسوفت لإعلان إيقافها لموسوعة إنكارتا.

كما ساهمت شركة مايكروسوفت في إنتاج الكثير من البرمجيات الشهيرة أو التطوير والإضافة على بعض البرمجيات الموجودة مثل: مايكروسوفت فيجوال سي++، ومايكروسوفت فيجوال بيسك، ومايكروسوفت فوكسبرو، ومايكروسوفت كويك بيسك، ومايكروسوفت فيجوال إنترديف، ومايكروسوفت فيجوال جيه++، ومايكروسوفت دلتا، وغيرها الكثير.

الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية ترفع دعوى ضد الشركة
في 18 مايو 1998م رفعت وزارة العدل الأمريكية و20 ولاية أمريكية قضية مدنية ضد شركة مايكروسوفت، تتهمها فيه بالاحتكار لسوق البرمجيات في تعاطيها مع مبيعات نظام التشغيل ويندوز وإنترنت إكسبلورر.

بعد إصدار شركة مايكروسوفت لمتصفح الإنترنت إنترنت إكسبلورر قامت بضمه لنظام ويندوز ليباع البرنامجان معاً في قرص مدمج واحد، فوصفت المحكمة هذا الفعل بأنه تقييد (غير عادل) للتنافس بين متصفحات الإنترنت المختلفة مثل (Netscape Navigator) وأوبرا والتي لابد من شرائها بشكل منفصل عن نظام التشغيل، مما يعني حصول المستخدم على متصفح مجاني من مايكروسوفت، فيفضل بذلك شراء إصدار ويندوز الذي يضم الإصدارين معاً على تحمل تكلفة نظام التشغيل وتكلفة إضافية للمتصفح.

ردت مايكروسوفت بأن هذه العملية هي نتاج الابتكار والمنافسة الحرة، وأن نظام التشغيل والمتصفح يمثلان الآن وحدة واحدة وارتباطاً لا مفر منه، فالمتصفح عبارة عن ميزة إضافية لنظام التشغيل وليس منتجاً منفصلاً، وبإمكان المستخدم الآن الحصول على منافع المتصفح مجاناً فهي بذلك تقدم خدمة للمشتري.

فرد الادعاء بأن المتصفح إكسبلورر منتج منفصل عن نظام التشغيل ولا حاجة لربطهما معاً والدليل على ذلك وجود إصدار منفصل منه يباع على حدة لمستخدمي نظام تشغيل ماكنتوش (Mac OS). كما أن المتصفح ليس مجانياً (فعلياً) لأن تكلفة إنتاجه وتسويقه أضيفت لتكلفة نظام التشغيل ويندوز مما جعل سعره مرتفعاً.

وبعد مجموعة من التحقيقات والمداولات والجلسات أصدرت المحكمة حكماً في 3 أبريل 2000م يقضي بأن شركة مايكروسوفت شركة محتكرة ومنتهكة بفعلتها لقوانين حماية المستهلك ضد التلاعب والاحتيال، وعليه فإن مايكروسوفت يجب أن تنقسم لجزئين منفصلين، أحدها لإنتاج نظام التشغيل ويندوز والآخر لإنتاج الإصدارات البرمجية الأخرى لمايكروسوفت.

صعقت شركة مايكروسوفت بالحكم، واتهمت القاضي بالانحياز وعدم الموضوعية، وأن حكمه يقيد حرية المنافسة والابتكار، واستأنفت مايكروسوفت القضية. وفي 2 نوفمبر 2001م توصلت مايكروسوفت لتسوية مع وزارة العدل الأمريكية اقتضت تراجع المحكمة عن قرار التقسيم مقابل قيام مايكروسوفت بالكشف عن عناصر بعض برامجها (source code) للشركات الأخرى لإتاحة الفرصة لها بإنتاج برامج منافسة، مما يمنح أسواق الحواسيب مرونة أكثر ويمنع الاحتكار. كما وجب على مايكروسوفت السماح لهيئة مستشارين مكونة من 3 أشخاص ومعينة من قبل المحكمة بالاطلاع على أنظمة مايكروسوفت وسجلاتها وبرامجها، لمنع أية محاولات احتكارية مستقبلية. وتلتزم مايكروسوفت بهذه القيود مدة خمس سنوات تبدأ من تاريخ توقيع التسوية.

نجت مايكروسوفت من هذه المحنة، لكنها كانت أول الغيث، فقد أُمطرت مايكروسوفت لاحقاً بوابل من قضايا اتهام بالاحتكار رفعت عليها من شركات وهيئات مختلفة، كان آخرها قضية رفعها الاتحاد الأوروبي (2007م) والتي كان من أحد نتائجها إصدار نسخ ويندوز موجهة لدول الاتحاد بدون مشغل الميديا ويندوز ميديا بلاير وذلك أيضاً لاعتبار ضم برنامج الميديا بلاير لنظام التشغيل نوع من الاحتكار.

على الصعيد الشخصي
تزوج بيل غيتس من ميليندا فرينش في عام 1994م وأنجبا ثلاثة أطفال هم: جينفر كاثرين (1996)م، روري جون (1999)م، فيبي أديل (2002)م. وتعيش العائلة في منزل عصري ضخم ومكلف يطل على بحيرة في العاصمة واشنطن. منذ عام 1996م وحتى 2006م حمل بيل غيتس لقب "أغنى رجل في العالم"، فقد قدرت ثروته في عام 1999م بـ100 مليار دولار أمريكي وقد تربع على العرش مرة أخرى عام 2007م.

في عام 2000م أنشأ بيل وزوجته مليندا مؤسسة بيل وميلندا جيتس وهي تعنى بالأعمال الخيرية، وقدمت هذه المؤسسة الكثير من الدعم المادي لمحاربة مرض الإيدز والأوبئة المتفشية في دول العالم الثالث، كما قدمت المؤسسة المساعدة للطلاب على مقاعد الدراسة على شكل منح دراسية، فمنحت ما يقارب 210 مليون دولار أمريكي لجامعة كامبريدج في العام2000، و1 دولار أمريكي لاتحاد يمول طلاب الجامعات الأمريكيين من أصل إفريقي.

تقدر منح المؤسسة منذ إنشائها إلى الآن ب 29 مليار دولار أمريكي، وقد حصلت المؤسسة على عدة جوائز عالمية تقديراً لجهودها في مجالي الصحة والتعليم. وقد أعلن بيل غيتس مؤخراً عن نيته في ترك منصبه كرئيس لشركة مايكروسوفت والتفرغ للعمل لدى المؤسسة.

حمل بيل غيتس مؤخراً اهتماماً جديداً تمثل في تحسين التعليم في المدارس الحكومية الأمريكية، وظهر في عدة مناسبات وبرامج شهيرة (مثل برنامج أوبرا وينفري) في محاولة منه لتسليط الضوء على مشكلة ضعف التحصيل الأكاديمي لطلاب المدارس الحكومية وبذل الجهود لحلها.

حصل بيل غيتس على 4 شهادات دكتوراه فخرية، كان أولها من جامعة الأعمال (Nyenrode Business Universiteit) في هولندا عام 2000م، والثانية من المعهد الملكي للتكنولوجيا في السويد عام 2002م، والثالثة من جامعة واسيدا في اليابان عام 2005م، والأخيرة من جامعة هارفارد في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية عام 2007م.

كما حصل بيل غيتس في عام 2005م أيضاً على لقب فارس من ملكة بريطانيا الملكة إليزابيث الثانية.

عاد بيل غيتس وحصل أخيراً في العام 2007م وبعد مرور 30 عاماً على تركه مقاعد الدراسة على شهادة جامعية في الحقوق من جامعة هارفارد. وفي الخطاب الذي ألقاه بيل أمام الخريجين في حفل التخرج قال مازحاً: "أخيراً، سأستطيع إضافة درجة جامعية إلى سيرتي الذاتية". كما وجه كلامه لوالده قائلاً: "أبي، لقد قلت لك أنني سأعود وسأحصل على شهادتي الجامعية في أحد الأيام".

ثروته
بيل غيتس هو واحد من أشهر المستثمرين في مجال الحواسيب الشخصية، بالرغم من امتلاكه شعبية واسعة  إلا أن سياسة الشركة تتعرض للانتقادات بتهم مناهضة المنافسة، مما أدى إلى المحاكمة أحياناً. اتبع غيتس المساعي الخيرية عن طريق دعم المراكز الخيرية والبحوث العلمية بمبالغ طائلة عن طريق مؤسسة بيل ومليندا غيتس التي افتتحت عام 2000م.

وفقاً لقائمة مجلة فوربس لأثرى أثرياء العالم حصل بيل غيتس على الترتيب الأول بين عامي 1995 و2007م، وتقدر الآن ثروته ب 80 مليار دولار أمريكي، لكنه في عام 2008م تراجع ترتيبه إلى المركز الثالث

سنوات تنامى ثروته من خلال مجلة فوربس
1986م، 315 مليون دولار.
1987م، مليار دولار وربع المليار.
1990م، 2 مليار دولار ونصف.
1995م، 14.8 مليار دولار (أول سنة يصنف فيها أغنى رجل في العالم).
1997م، 40 مليار دولار.
1999، 85 مليار دولار.
2000م، 63 مليار دولار (هبوط بسبب انخفاض في قيمة الاسهم).
2008م، 58 مليار دولار.
2009م، طبقا لفوربس عاد بيل غيتس إلى الصدارة مرة أخرى متفوقاً على وارين بوفيت كارلوس سليم بثروة تقدر ب40 مليار دولار بعد أن خسر 18 مليار.
2010م، أصبح بيل غيتس في المركز الثاني بعد كارلوس سليم حلو بثروة صافية تقدر بـ53 مليار دولار.
2013م، 72.7 مليار دولار.
2015م، 79 مليار دولار، تصدر بيل غيتس، من جديد القائمة السنوية التي تصدرها مجلة فوربس لأغنى أغنياء العالم ليحل في المركز الأول للمرة ال 16 متفوقا على رجل الأعمال المكسيكي كارلوس سليم.
كتبه
أحد أكثر كتبه شهرة كتاب المعلوماتية بعد الإنترنت، والذي تم ترجمته إلى اللغة العربية عام 1998 ضمن سلسلة عالم المعرفة الصادرة في الكويت.

التفرغ للأعمال الخيرية
في يونيو 2008 لم يعد بيل غيتس يعمل بوقت وبشكل كامل مديرًا تنفيذيًا لشركة مايكروسوفت، فعين مكانه رئيسًا للشركة ستيف بالمر الذي يعرفه منذ فترة الدراسة في جامعة هارفارد، فلقد أصبح يعمل بشكل جزئي بالشركة، وقرر بيل غيتس التفرغ لمنظمته الخيرية مؤسسة بيل ومليندا غيتس، وهي أكبر جمعية خيرية في العالم والممولة جزئياً من ثروته.

استقالة بيل غيتس
أعلن بيل غيتس مؤسس شركة مايكروسوفت تخليه عن رئاسة مجلس إدارة تلك الشركة لمصلحة جون تومبسون، وهو أحد الأعضاء المستقلين في مجلس الإدارة، على أن يتحول إلى العمل كمستشار تكنولوجي للشركة. وأكدت مايكروسوفت أن بيل غيتس، الذي قدم استقالته من منصب رئاسة مجلس الإدارة، سيصبح مستشارًا تكنولوجيًا للشركة، وسيقوم بمساعدة المدير العام الجديد أيضًا ساتيا ناديلا الأميركي من أصل هندي. وقالت مايكروسوفت في بيان لها إن الأميركي من أصل هندي ساتيا ناديلا (46 عامًا)، والذي كان حتى اليوم مسؤولًا عن الأنشطة المتعلقة بالشركات وبالحوسبة السحابية (كلاود كومبيوتنغ)، قد أصبح اعتبارًا من تاريخ صدور البيان مديرًا عامًا للمجموعة، خلفًا لستيف بالمر، الذي كان أعلن في الصيف الماضي عزمه ترك منصبه.

الصورة العامة
كان الناس ينظرون لبيل غيتس أنه جشع ومحتكر نتيجة عديد من دعاوي الاحتكار التي رفعت ضد مايكروسوفت في الولايات المتحدة وأوروبا. وبعد تأسيس مؤسسة بيل ومليندا غيتس تلطفت صورته ليصبح فاعل الخير السخي.

Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, software developer, and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.[2][3] During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, chief executive officer (CEO) and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He is one of the best-known entrepreneurs and pioneers of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Gates launched Microsoft with childhood friend Paul Allen in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; it went on to become the world's largest personal computer software company.[4][a] Gates led the company as chairman and CEO until stepping down as CEO in January 2000, but he remained chairman and became chief software architect.[7] In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning to a part-time role at Microsoft and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the private charitable foundation that he and his wife, Melinda Gates, established in 2000.[8] He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie.[9] He stepped down as chairman of Microsoft in February 2014 and assumed a new post as technology adviser to support the newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella.[10]

Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive. This opinion has been upheld by numerous court rulings.[11]

Since 1987, he has been included in the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest documented individuals.[12][13] From 1995 to 2017, he held the Forbes title of the richest person in the world all but four of those years.[1] In 2017 he was surpassed by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who had an estimated net worth of US$90.6 billion.[14] As of November 9, 2019, Gates had a net worth of $107.1 billion, still ranked second.

Later in his career and since leaving day-to-day operations at Microsoft in 2008, Gates pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors. He donated large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reported to be the world's largest private charity.[15] In 2009, Gates and Warren Buffett founded The Giving Pledge, whereby they and other billionaires pledge to give at least half of their wealth to philanthropy.[16] The foundation works to save lives and improve global health, and is working with Rotary International to eliminate polio
Early life
Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955. He is the son of William H. Gates Sr.[b] (b. 1925) and Mary Maxwell Gates (1929–1994). His ancestry includes English, German, and Irish/Scots-Irish.[18][19] His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way of America. Gates' maternal grandfather was J. W. Maxwell, a national bank president. Gates has an older sister Kristi (Kristianne) and a younger sister Libby. He is the fourth of his name in his family but is known as William Gates III or "Trey" because his father had the "II" suffix.[20][21] The family lived in the Sand Point area of Seattle in a home that was damaged by a rare tornado when Gates was seven years old.[22] Early in his life, Gates observed that his parents wanted him to pursue a law career.[23] When he was young, his family regularly attended a church of the Congregational Christian Churches, a Protestant Reformed denomination.[24][25][26] Gates was small for his age and was bullied as a child. He preferred to stay in his room where he would shout "I'm thinking" when his mother asked what he was doing.[21] The family encouraged competition; one visitor reported that "it didn't matter whether it was hearts or pickleball or swimming to the dock; there was always a reward for winning and there was always a penalty for losing".[27]

At 13, he enrolled in the private Lakeside prep school,[28] and he wrote his first software program.[29] When he was in the eighth grade, the Mothers' Club at the school used proceeds from Lakeside School's rummage sale to buy a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal and a block of computer time on a General Electric (GE) computer for the students.[30] Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC, and he was excused from math classes to pursue his interest. He wrote his first computer program on this machine, an implementation of tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games against the computer. Gates was fascinated by the machine and how it would always execute software code perfectly.[31] After the Mothers Club donation was exhausted, he and other students sought time on systems including DEC PDP minicomputers. One of these systems was a PDP-10 belonging to Computer Center Corporation (CCC) which banned Gates, Paul Allen, Ric Weiland, and Gates' best friend Kent Evans for the summer after it caught them exploiting bugs in the operating system to obtain free computer time.[32][33][21]

The four students had formed the Lakeside Programmers Club to make money.[21] At the end of the ban, they offered to find bugs in CCC's software in exchange for extra computer time. Rather than use the system remotely via Teletype, Gates went to CCC's offices and studied source code for various programs that ran on the system, including Fortran, Lisp, and machine language. The arrangement with CCC continued until 1970, when the company went out of business. The following year, Information Sciences, Inc. hired the four students to write a payroll program in COBOL, providing them computer time and royalties. Gates wrote the school's student information system software to schedule students in classes, and he modified the code so that he was placed in classes with "a disproportionate number of interesting girls."[34]

At 17, Gates formed a venture with Allen called Traf-O-Data to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor.[35] In 1972, he served as a congressional page in the House of Representatives.[36][37] He was a National Merit Scholar when he graduated from Lakeside School in 1973.[38] He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) and enrolled at Harvard College in the autumn of 1973.[39][40] He chose a pre-law major but took mathematics and graduate level computer science courses.[41] While at Harvard, he met fellow student Steve Ballmer. Gates left Harvard after two years while Ballmer stayed and graduated magna cum laude. Ballmer succeeded Gates as Microsoft's CEO years later and maintained that position from 2000 until his resignation in 2014
Gates devised an algorithm for pancake sorting as a solution to one of a series of unsolved problems[43] presented in a combinatorics class by professor Harry Lewis. His solution held the record as the fastest version for over 30 years;[43][44] its successor is faster by only one percent.[43] His solution was formalized in a published paper in collaboration with Harvard computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou.[45]

Gates did not have a definite study plan while he was a student at Harvard,[46] and he spent a lot of time using the school's computers. He remained in contact with Paul Allen, and he joined him at Honeywell during the summer of 1974.[47] The MITS Altair 8800 was released the following year based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw this as the opportunity to start their own computer software company.[48] Gates dropped out of Harvard at this time. He had talked over this decision with his parents, who were supportive of him after seeing how much he wanted to start his own company.[46] He explained his decision to leave Harvard: "if things hadn't worked out, I could always go back to school. I was officially on leave."[49]

Microsoft
BASIC
Gates read the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics which demonstrated the Altair 8800, and he contacted Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) to inform them that he and others were working on a BASIC interpreter for the platform.[50] In reality, Gates and Allen did not have an Altair and had not written code for it; they merely wanted to gauge MITS's interest. MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to meet them for a demonstration, and over the course of a few weeks they developed an Altair emulator that ran on a minicomputer, and then the BASIC interpreter. The demonstration was held at MITS's offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico; it was a success and resulted in a deal with MITS to distribute the interpreter as Altair BASIC. MITS hired Allen,[51] and Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with him at MITS in November 1975. Allen named their partnership "Micro-Soft", a combination of "microcomputer" and "software", and their first office was in Albuquerque.[51] They dropped the hyphen within a year and officially registered the trade name "Microsoft" with the Secretary of the State of New Mexico on November 26, 1976.[51] Gates never returned to Harvard to complete his studies.

Microsoft's Altair BASIC was popular with computer hobbyists, but Gates discovered that a pre-market copy had leaked out and was being widely copied and distributed. In February 1976, he wrote an Open Letter to Hobbyists in the MITS newsletter in which he asserted that more than 90 percent of the users of Microsoft Altair BASIC had not paid Microsoft for it and the Altair "hobby market" was in danger of eliminating the incentive for any professional developers to produce, distribute, and maintain high-quality software.[52] This letter was unpopular with many computer hobbyists, but Gates persisted in his belief that software developers should be able to demand payment. Microsoft became independent of MITS in late 1976, and it continued to develop programming language software for various systems.[51] The company moved from Albuquerque to Bellevue, Washington on January 1, 1979.[50]

Gates said that he personally reviewed and often rewrote every line of code that the company produced in its first five years. As the company grew he transitioned to a manager role, then an executive.[53]

IBM partnership
IBM, the leading supplier of computer equipment to commercial enterprises at the time, approached Microsoft in July 1980 concerning software for its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC.[54] IBM first proposed that Microsoft write the BASIC interpreter. IBM's representatives also mentioned that they needed an operating system, and Gates referred them to Digital Research (DRI), makers of the widely used CP/M operating system.[55] IBM's discussions with Digital Research went poorly, however, and they did not reach a licensing agreement. IBM representative Jack Sams mentioned the licensing difficulties during a subsequent meeting with Gates and asked if Microsoft could provide an operating system. A few weeks later, Gates and Allen proposed using 86-DOS, an operating system similar to CP/M, that Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products (SCP) had made for hardware similar to the PC.[56] Microsoft made a deal with SCP to be the exclusive licensing agent of 86-DOS, and later the full owner. Microsoft employed Paterson to adapt the operating system for the PC[57] and delivered it to IBM as PC DOS for a one-time fee of $50,000.[58]

Rather than the contract itself, which earned Microsoft a relatively small fee, the prestige brought to Microsoft by IBM's adoption of their operating system was the origin of Microsoft's transformation from a small business to the World's leading software company. Gates had not offered to transfer the copyright on the operating system to IBM because he believed that other personal computer makers would clone IBM's PC hardware.[58] They did, making the IBM-compatible PC, running DOS, a de facto standard. The sales of MS-DOS (the version of DOS sold to customers other than IBM) made Microsoft a major player in the industry.[59] The press quickly identified Microsoft as being very influential on the IBM PC. PC Magazine asked if Gates was "the man behind the machine?".[54]

Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the company in Washington state and made Gates the president and chairman of the board, with Paul Allen as vice president and vice chairman. In early 1983, Allen left the company after receiving a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, effectively ending the formal business partnership between Gates and Allen, which had been strained months prior due to a contentious dispute over Microsoft equity.[50][60] Later in the decade, Gates repaired his relationship with Allen and together the two donated millions to their childhood school Lakeside.[21] They remained friends until Allen's death in October 2018.[61]

Windows
Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985. In August of the following year, the company struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS/2. Although the two companies successfully developed the first version of the new system, the partnership deteriorated due to mounting creative differences.[62]

Management style
Gates had primary responsibility for Microsoft's product strategy from the company's founding in 1975 until 2006. He gained a reputation for being distant from others; an industry executive complained in 1981 that "Gates is notorious for not being reachable by phone and for not returning phone calls."[63] An Atari executive recalled that he showed Gates a game and defeated him 35 of 37 times. When they met again a month later, Gates "won or tied every game. He had studied the game until he solved it. That is a competitor".[64]

Gates met regularly with Microsoft's senior managers and program managers, and the managers described him as being verbally combative. He also berated them for perceived holes in their business strategies or proposals that placed the company's long-term interests at risk.[65][66] He interrupted presentations with such comments as "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard"[67] and "why don't you just give up your options and join the Peace Corps?"[68] The target of his outburst would then have to defend the proposal in detail until Gates was fully convinced.[67] When subordinates appeared to be procrastinating, he was known to remark sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend."[69][70][71]

During Microsoft's early history, Gates was an active software developer, particularly in the company's programming language products, but his primary role in most of the company's history was as a manager and executive. He has not officially been on a development team since working on the TRS-80 Model 100,[72] but he wrote code that shipped with the company's products as late as 1989.[70] Jerry Pournelle wrote in 1985 when Gates announced Microsoft Excel: "Bill Gates likes the program, not because it's going to make him a lot of money (although I'm sure it will do that), but because it's a neat hack."[73]

On June 15, 2006, Gates announced that he would transition out of his role at Microsoft to dedicate more time to philanthropy. He divided his responsibilities between two successors when he placed Ray Ozzie in charge of management and Craig Mundie in charge of long-term product strategy.[74]

Antitrust litigation
Gates approved of many decisions that led to antitrust litigation over Microsoft's business practices. In the 1998 United States v. Microsoft case, Gates gave deposition testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive. He argued with examiner David Boies over the contextual meaning of words such as "compete", "concerned", and "we". The judge and observers in the courtroom were seen laughing at various points during the deposition.[75] BusinessWeek reported:

Early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying "I don't recall" so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle. Worse, many of the technology chief's denials and pleas of ignorance were directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mail that Gates both sent and received
Gates later said that he had simply resisted attempts by Boies to mischaracterize his words and actions. "Did I fence with Boies? … I plead guilty… rudeness to Boies in the first degree."[77] Despite Gates' denials, the judge ruled that Microsoft had committed monopolization, tying and blocking competition, both in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[77]

Post-Microsoft
Since leaving day-to-day operations at Microsoft, Gates has continued his philanthropy and works on other projects.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gates was the world's highest-earning billionaire in 2013, as his net worth increased by US$15.8 billion to US$78.5 billion. As of January 2014, most of Gates' assets are held in Cascade Investment LLC, an entity through which he owns stakes in numerous businesses, including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Corbis Corp.[78] On February 4, 2014, Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft to become Technology Advisor alongside new CEO Satya Nadella.[10][79]

Gates provided his perspective on a range of issues in a substantial interview that was published in the March 27, 2014 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. In the interview, Gates provided his perspective on climate change, his charitable activities, various tech companies and people involved in them, and the state of America. In response to a question about his greatest fear when he looks 50 years into the future, Gates stated: "... there'll be some really bad things that'll happen in the next 50 or 100 years, but hopefully none of them on the scale of, say, a million people that you didn't expect to die from a pandemic, or nuclear or bioterrorism." Gates also identified innovation as the "real driver of progress" and pronounced that "America's way better today than it's ever been."[80]

Gates has expressed concern about the potential harms of superintelligence; in a Reddit "ask me anything", he stated that

First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don't understand why some people are not concerned.[81][82][83][84]

In a March 2015 interview, with Baidu's CEO, Robin Li, Gates claimed he would "highly recommend" Nick Bostrom's recent work, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies.[85]

In March 2018, Gates met at his home in Seattle with Mohammed bin Salman, the reformist crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia to discuss investment opportunities for Saudi Vision 2030.[86][87]

In an interview on stage in 2019, Gates admitted that losing the mobile OS space to Android was his biggest mistake. He stated that it was within their skillset of being the dominant mobile operating system, but the company was distracted during that period because of the ongoing anti-trust litigation.[88][unreliable source?]

In 2019, Bill Gates became an Advisory Board Member of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.[89]

Philanthropy
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Gates studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and donated some of his Microsoft stock in 1994 to create the "William H. Gates Foundation." In 2000, Gates and his wife combined three family foundations and Gates donated stock valued at $5 billion to create the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was identified by the Funds for NGOs company in 2013, as the world's wealthiest charitable foundation, with assets reportedly valued at more than $34.6 billion.[90][91] The Foundation allows benefactors to access information that shows how its money is being spent, unlike other major charitable organizations such as the Wellcome Trust.[92][93] Gates, through his foundation, also donated $20 million to Carnegie Mellon University for a new building to be named Gates Center for Computer Science which opened in 2009.[94][95]

Gates has credited the generosity and extensive philanthropy of David Rockefeller as a major influence. Gates and his father met with Rockefeller several times, and their charity work is partly modeled on the Rockefeller family's philanthropic focus, whereby they are interested in tackling the global problems that are ignored by governments and other organizations.[96] As of 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates were the second-most generous philanthropists in America, having given over $28 billion to charity;[97] the couple plan to eventually donate 95 percent of their wealth to charity.[98]

The foundation is organized into four program areas: Global Development Division, Global Health Division, United States Division, and Global Policy & Advocacy Division.[99] The foundation supports the use of genetically modified organisms in agricultural development. Specifically, the foundation is supporting the International Rice Research Institute in developing Golden Rice, a genetically modified rice variant used to combat vitamin A deficiency.[100]

The goal of the foundation is to provide 120 million women and girls, in the poorest countries, with high-quality contraceptive information, services, and supplies with the longer-term goal of universal access to voluntary family planning.[101]

Personal donations
Melinda Gates suggested that people should emulate the philanthropic efforts of the Salwen family, who sold their home and gave away half of its value, as detailed in their book, The Power of Half.[102] Gates and his wife invited Joan Salwen to Seattle to speak about what the family had done, and on December 9, 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates and investor Warren Buffett each signed a commitment they called the "Giving Pledge", which is a commitment by all three to donate at least half of their wealth, over the course of time, to charity.[103][104][105]

Gates has also provided personal donations to educational institutions. In 1999, Gates donated $20 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the construction of a computer laboratory named the "William H. Gates Building" that was designed by architect Frank Gehry. While Microsoft had previously given financial support to the institution, this was the first personal donation received from Gates.[106]

The Maxwell Dworkin Laboratory of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is named after the mothers of both Gates and Microsoft President Steven A. Ballmer, both of whom were students (Ballmer was a member of the School's graduating class of 1977, while Gates left his studies for Microsoft), and donated funds for the laboratory's construction.[107] Gates also donated $6 million to the construction of the Gates Computer Science Building, completed in January 1996, on the campus of Stanford University. The building contains the Computer Science Department and the Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL) of Stanford's Engineering department.[108]

On August 15, 2014, Bill Gates posted a video of himself on Facebook in which he is seen performing the Ice Bucket Challenge. Gates posted the video after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg challenged him to do so in order to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.[109]

Since about 2005, Bill Gates and his foundation have taken an interest in solving global sanitation problems. For example, they announced the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge", which has received considerable media interest.[110] To raise awareness for the topic of sanitation and possible solutions, Gates drank water that was "produced from human feces" in 2014 – in fact it was produced from a sewage sludge treatment process called the Omni Processor.[111][112] In early 2015, he also appeared with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show and challenged him to see if he could taste the difference between this reclaimed water or bottled water.[113]

In November 2017, Gates said he would give $50 million to the Dementia Discovery Fund, a venture capital that seeks treatment for Alzheimer's disease. He also pledged an additional $50 million to start-up ventures working in Alzheimer's research.[114]

Bill and Melinda Gates have said that they intend to leave their three children $10 million each as their inheritance. With only $30 million kept in the family, they appear to be on a course to give away about 99.96 percent of their wealth.[115] On August 25, 2018, Gates distributed $600,000 through his Melinda and Gates Foundation via UNICEF which is helping flood affected victims in Kerala, India

Mirzapur

Mirzapur is an Indian crime thriller web Indian television series on Amazon Prime Video produced by Excel Entertainment.[1] The series is primarily shot in Mirzapur, with some shots in Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Lucknow and Gorakhpur. It revolves around drugs, guns and lawlessness. It depicts the putrescence, governance and rule of mafia dons and the rivalry and crime prevailing in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh.[2] Its first season consists of 9 episodes in total.[3] The show has been renewed for a second season.

The series is Amazon Prime Video’s third fiction Indian Original after Inside Edge and Breathe. It stars Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal, Harshita Gaur, Divyendu Sharma and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
Cast
Pankaj Tripathi as Akhandanand "Kaleen Bhaiya" Tripathi
Ali Fazal as Govind "Guddu" Pandit
Vikrant Massey as Vinay "Bablu" Pandit
Amit Sial as Ram Sharan Maurya, SSP, Special Officer assigned to Mirzapur
Divyendu Sharma as Phoolchand "Munna" Tripathi
Shahnawaz Pradhan as Superintendent of Police Parshuram Gupta, Golu and Sweety's father
Rajesh Tailang as Ramakant Pandit, Guddu, Bablu and Dimpy's father
Sheeba Chaddha as Vasudha Pandit, Ramakant Pandit's wife, Guddu, Bablu and Dimpy's mother
Shweta Tripathi as Gajgamini "Golu" Gupta, younger daughter of Parshuram
Shriya Pilgaonkar as Sweety Gupta, Parshuram's elder daughter and Guddu's wife
Rasika Dugal as Beena Tripathi, Kaleen Bhaiya’s second wife and Munna’s stepmother
Prashansa Sharma as Radhiya
Harshita Gaur as Dimpy Pandit, Guddu and Bablu’s sister
Shaji Chaudhary as Maqbool Khan, Kaleen Bhaiya's trusted henchman
Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Satyanand Tripathi, Kaleen Bhaiya’s father and Munna's grandfather
Manu Rishi as Police IG Dubey
Mukesh Bhatt as Haseena
Abhishek Banerjee as Subodh aka Compounder
Shubrajyoti Bharat as Rati Shankar Shukla, Bahubali of Jaunpur, Kaleen Bhaiya's rival
Anjum Sharma as Sharad Shukla, Rati Shankar's Son
Pramod Pathak as J.P. Yadav, political patron of Akhandanand Tripathi aka Kaleen Bhaiya
Anil George as Lala, Supplier of Opium to Akhandanand Tripathi aka Kaleen Bhaiya
Abutalha as Lion of Mirzapur
Santosh bhokare as Police Pandey
Aasif Khan as Babar Khan, Maqbool's nephew
Reception
The show has received mixed to good reviews from critics. Rohan Naahar of the Hindustan Times, rating it 2/5, calls it "a needlessly violent Anurag Kashyap rip-off has the maturity of an ill-mannered teen - loud, obnoxious and aimless", saying it's "a show without a moral centre, which is problematic - not only ethically, but narratively. Without a single character to latch on to, the show is left with no option but to revel in the violence, which is often needlessly over-the-top."[7] Sampada Sharma of The Indian Express also considered it "a washed up Anurag Kashyap universe that is trying too hard to please longtime Kashyap loyalists" and that "the show tries to surprise the audience with some anti-climactic twists in a few scenes but you can already see them coming."[8] Ektaa Malik, also of The Indian Express, terms it "a tedious watch, and even its top-notch cast can’t save this mammoth show from sinking. The show creators wished to create a multi-layered, complex narrative, replete with backstories, but it all ends up in a big muddled heap. The relentless violence and gore doesn’t scare you, rather it makes you cringe. The abundant profanity doesn’t add to the story, it distracts you instead.The writers and show creators have tried to imbibe current socio-political and cultural references but nothing really stands out."[9] Saraswati Datar from The News Minute talks of a "brilliant cast of actors led by Pankaj Tripathi is let down by an inconsistent script and indulgent direction."[10] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rates it 2/5, and, while also highlighting the performances of Tripathi, Fazal and Massey, talks of the show as "a crime series that never ventures beyond familiar terrain. Its trite narrative template undermines its ambition to be the web's answer to Gangs of Wasseypur. With nothing to say, it inevitably flubs its lines."[11] Stutee Ghosh from The Quint gives it 2.5/5, also saying how the performances "save" a "weak drama."[12]

In a slightly more sympathetic tone, Rahul Desai of Film Campanion rates it 3.5/5, calling it "a choppy but fearless crime epic."[13]

On the other hand, Ketna Mistry of Biz Asia gives it 4/5.[14]

The audience response, however, was completely different, as Mirzapur became one of the most popular web series in India as well as one of the most-watched ones

Balasaheb thakre

Bal Keshav Thackeray (also known as Balasaheb Thackeray; Marathi pronunciation: [ʈʰaːkəɾeː]; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012) was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing pro-Marathi[3] and Hindu nationalist party active mainly in the state of Maharashtra.

Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English-language daily The Free Press Journal in Bombay (now Mumbai), but he left the paper in 1960 to form his own political weekly, Marmik. His political philosophy was largely shaped by his father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the Samyukta Maharashtra (United Maharashtra) movement, which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state for Marathi speakers. Through Marmik, Bal Thackeray campaigned against the growing influence of non-Marathis in Bombay. In 1966, Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena party to advocate for the interests of Maharashtrians in Bombay's political and professional landscape, and against certain segments of Bombay's Muslim population.[4][5][6]

He had a large political influence in the state, especially in Mumbai; the Shiv Sena frequently used violent means against its detractors.[7] A government inquiry found that Thackeray and Chief Minister Manohar Joshi incited members of the Shiv Sena to commit violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 Bombay riots.[8][9]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the Shiv Sena by forming temporary alliances with nearly all of state's political parties.[5] Thackeray was also the founder of the Marathi-language newspaper Saamana.[10] After the riots of 1992-93, he and his party took a Hindutva stance. In 1999, Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting in any election for six years on the recommendations of the Election Commission for indulging in seeking votes in the name of religion. Thackeray was arrested multiple times and spent a brief stint in prison, but he never faced any major legal repercussions .[4] Upon his death, he was accorded a state funeral, at which many mourners were present. Thackeray did not hold any official positions, and he was never formally elected as the leader of his party
Early life
Thackeray was born in Pune on 23 January 1926, the son of Keshav Sitaram Thackeray (also known as 'Prabodhankar') and his wife Ramabai Thackeray.[5] The family belongs to the Marathi Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu or CKP community.[11][12] Bal was the eldest of nine siblings, among them being brothers Srikant Thackeray (father of Raj Thackeray) and Ramesh Thackeray, and five sisters (Mrs. Sanjeevani Karandikar, Mrs. Pama (Prema) Tipnis, Mrs. Sudha Sule, Mrs. Sarala Gadkari and Mrs. Susheela Gupte).

Bal's father, Keshav Thackeray, was a journalist and cartoonist by profession; he was also a social activist and writer who was involved in the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement of the 1950s, which argued for the creation of a unified state called Maharashtra for Marathi-speaking areas with Bombay as its capital. Bal Thackeray was inspired by his father's political philosophy.[4]

Career
Thackeray began his career as a cartoonist in the Free Press Journal in Bombay. His cartoons were also published in the Sunday edition of The Times of India. In 1960, he launched the cartoon weekly Marmik with his brother Srikant.[13] He used it to campaign against the growing numbers and influence of non-Marathi people in Bombay, targeting the South Indian population. After Thackeray's differences with the Free Press Journal, he and four or five people, including politician George Fernandes, left the paper and started their own daily, News Day. The paper survived for one or two months.[14]

Politics
Further information: Shiv Sena
1966–1998
The success of Maarmik prompted Thackeray to form the Shiv Sena on 19 June 1966. The name "Shiv Sena" (Shivaji's Army) was after the 17th century Maratha king. Initially, Thackeray said it was not a political party but an army of Shivaji Maharaj, inclined to fight for the Marathi manoos (person).[15] It demanded that native speakers of the state's local language Marathi (the "sons of the soil" movement) be given preferential treatment in private and public sector jobs. The early objective of the Shiv Sena was to ensure their job security competing against South Indians and Gujaratis.[13] In its 1966 party manifesto, Thackeray primarily blamed south Indians.[16] In Marmik, Thackeray published a list of corporate officials from a local directory, many being south Indians, citing it as proof that Maharashtrians were being discriminated against.[15]

His party grew in the next ten years. Senior leaders such as Babasaheb Purandare, chief attorney for Trade Union of Maharashtra Madhav Mehere joined the party and chartered architect Madhav Gajanan Deshpande backed various aspects of the party operations. In 1969, Thackeray and Manohar Joshi were jailed after participating in a protest demanding the merger of Karwar, Belgaum and Nipani regions in Maharashtra.[17] During the 1970s, it did not succeed in the local elections and it was active mainly in Bombay, compared to the rest of the state. The party set up local branch offices and settled disputes, complaints against the government.[6] It later started violent tactics with attacks against rival parties, migrants and the media; the party agitated by destroying public and private property.[7][18] Thackeray publicly supported Indira Gandhi during the 1975 Emergency to avoid getting arrested; Thackeray supported the Congress party numerous times.[13]

Dr. Hemchandra Gupte, Mayor of Bombay and the former family physician and confidante of Thackeray, left Shivsena in 1976 citing importance given to money, violence committed by the Shiv Sena members and Thackeray's support for Mrs.Gandhi and the 1975 emergency.[19]

Politically, the Shiv Sena was anti-communist, and wrested control of trade unions in Bombay from the Communist Party of India (CPI). Local unemployed youth from the declining textile industry joined the party[18] and it further expanded because of Marathi migrants from the Konkan region.[13] By the 1980s, it became a threat to the ruling Congress party which initially encouraged it because of it rivalling the CPI. In 1989, the Sena's newspaper Saamna was launched by Thackeray.[20] Because of Thackeray being against the Mandal Commission report, his close aide Chhagan Bhujbal left the party in 1991. Following the 1992 Bombay riots, Thackeray took stances viewed as anti-Muslim and based on Hindutva.[7] Shiv Sena later allied itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won the 1995 Maharashtra State Assembly elections and were in power from 1995 to 1999. Thackeray declared himself to be the "remote control" chief minister.[7][21]

Thackeray and the Chief Minister Manohar Joshi were explicitly named for inciting the Shivsainiks for violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 riots in an inquiry ordered by the government of India, the Srikrishna Commission Report.[9][8]

He had influence in the film industry. His party workers agitated against films he found controversial and would disrupt film screenings, causing losses. Bombay, a 1995 film on the riots was opposed by them.[13]

1999–2012
On 28 July 1999 Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting in any election for six years from 11 December 1999 till 10 December 2005 on the recommendations of the Election Commission for indulging in corrupt practice by seeking votes in the name of religion.[22][23] In 2000, he was arrested for his role in the riots but was released because the statute of limitations expired.[4] In 2002, Thackeray issued a call to form Hindu suicide bomber squads to take on the menace of terrorism.[24] In response, the Maharashtra government registered a case against him for inciting enmity between different groups.[25] At least two organisations founded and managed by retired Indian Army officers, Lt Col Jayant Rao Chitale and Lt Gen. P.N. Hoon (former commander-in-chief of the Western Command), responded to the call with such statements as not allowing Pakistanis to work in India due to accusations against Pakistan for supporting attacks in India by militants.[26][27] After the six-year voting ban on Thackeray was lifted in 2005, he voted for the first time in the 2007 BMC elections.[28] Eight or nine cases against Thackeray and Saamna for inflammatory writings were not investigated by the government.[13]

Thackeray said that the Shiv Sena had helped the Marathi people in Mumbai, especially in the public sector.[29] Thackeray believed that Hindus must be organised to struggle against those who oppose their identity and religion.[30] Opposition leftist parties alleged that the Shiv Sena has done little to solve the problem of unemployment facing a large proportion of Maharashtrian youth during its tenure, in contradiction to its ideological foundation of 'sons of the soil.'[31]

In 2006, Thackeray's nephew Raj Thackeray broke away from Shiv Sena to form the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) during Thackeray's retirement and appointment of his son, Uddhav rather than Raj as the leader of Shiv Sena. Narayan Rane also quit around that time.[32]

The Sena acted as a "moral police" and opposed Valentine's Day celebrations.[13] On 14 February 2006, Thackeray condemned and apologised for the violent attacks by its Shiv Sainiks on a private celebration in Mumbai. "It is said that women were beaten up in the Nallasopara incident. If that really happened, then it is a symbol of cowardice. I have always instructed Shiv Sainiks that in any situation women should not be humiliated and harassed."[33] Thackeray and the Shiv Sena remained opposed to it, although they indicated support for an "Indian alternative."[34][35]

In 2007, he was briefly arrested and let out on bail after referring to Muslims as "green poison" during a Shiv Sena rally.[4]

On 27 March 2008, in protest to Thackeray's editorial, leaders of Shiv Sena in Delhi resigned, citing its "outrageous conduct" towards non-Marathis in Maharashtra and announced that they would form a separate party.[36] Addressing a press conference, Shiv Sena's North India chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal said the decision to leave the party was taken because of the "partial attitude" of the party high command towards Maharashtrians. Goyal further said "Shiv Sena is no different from Khalistan and Jammu and Kashmir militant groups which are trying to create a rift between people along regional lines. The main aim of these forces is to split our country. Like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the Shiv Sena too has demeaned North Indians and treated them inhumanely."[36][37]

Political views
Thackeray was criticised for his praise[38][39] of Adolf Hitler which he later neither admitted nor denied.[7] He was quoted by Asiaweek as saying: "I am a great admirer of Hitler, and I am not ashamed to say so! I do not say that I agree with all the methods he employed, but he was a wonderful organiser and orator, and I feel that he and I have several things in common...What India really needs is a dictator who will rule benevolently, but with an iron hand."[40] In a 1993 interview, Thackeray stated, "There is nothing wrong" if "Muslims are treated as Jews were in Nazi Germany." In another 1992 interview, Thackeray stated, "If you take Mein Kampf and if you remove the word 'Jew' and put in the word 'Muslim', that is what I believe in".[41] Indian Express published an interview on 29 January 2007: "Hitler did very cruel and ugly things. But he was an artist, I love him [for that]. He had the power to carry the whole nation, the mob with him. You have to think what magic he had. He was a miracle...The killing of Jews was wrong. But the good part about Hitler was that he was an artist. He was a daredevil. He had good qualities and bad. I may also have good qualities and bad ones."[42][43]

Thackeray also declared that he was "not against every Muslim, but only those who reside in this country but do not obey the laws of the land...I consider such people [to be] traitors."[44] The Shiv Sena is viewed by the liberal media as being anti-Muslim, though Shiv sena members officially reject this accusation.[45] When explaining his views on Hindutva, he conflated Islam with violence and called on Hindus to "fight terrorism and fight Islam."[46] In an interview with Suketu Mehta, he called for the mass expulsion of illegal Bangladeshi Muslim migrants from India and for a visa system to enter Mumbai, the Indian National Congress state government had earlier during the Indira Gandhi declared national emergency considered a similar measure.[47][48]

He told India Today "[Muslims] are spreading like a cancer and should be operated on like a cancer. The...country should be saved from the Muslims and the police should support them [Hindu Maha Sangh] in their struggle just like the police in Punjab were sympathetic to the Khalistanis."[49] However, in an interview in 1998, he said that his stance had changed on many issues that the Shiv Sena had with Muslims, particularly regarding the Babri Mosque or Ram Janmabhoomi issue:[50] "We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us."[50] He also expressed admiration for Muslims in Mumbai in the wake of the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists. In response to threats made by Abu Azmi, a leader of the Samajwadi Party, that accusations of terrorism directed at Indian Muslims would bring about communal strife, Thackeray said that the unity of Mumbaikars (residents of Mumbai) in the wake of the attacks was "a slap to fanatics of Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi" and that Thackeray "salute[s] those Muslims who participated in the two minutes' silence on July 18 to mourn the blast victims."[51] Again in 2008 he wrote: "Islamic terrorism is growing and Hindu terrorism is the only way to counter it. We need suicide bomb squads to protect India and Hindus."[52] He also reiterated a desire for Hindus to unite across linguistic barriers to see "a Hindustan for Hindus" and to "bring Islam in this country down to its knees."[53]

In 2008, following agitation against Biharis and other north Indians travelling to Maharashtra to take civil service examinations for the Indian Railways due to an overlimit of the quota in their home provinces, Thackeray also said of Bihari MPs that they were "spitting in the same plate from which they ate" when they criticised Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians. He wrote: "They are trying to add fuel to the fire that has been extinguished, by saying that Mumbaikars have rotten brains." He also criticised Chhath Puja, a holiday celebrated by Biharis and those from eastern Uttar Pradesh, which occurs on six days of the Hindu month of Kartik. He said that it was not a real holiday.[54] This was reportedly a response to MPs from Bihar who had disrupted the proceedings of the Lok Sabha in protest to the attacks on North Indians.[54] Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, upset with the remarks, called on the prime minister and the central government to intervene in the matter. A Saamna editorial prompted at least 16 MPs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, belonging to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party and the Indian National Congress, to give notice for breach of privilege proceedings against Thackeray.[54] After the matter was raised in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said: "If anybody has made any comment on our members' functioning in the conduct of business in the House, not only do we treat that with the contempt that it deserves, but also any action that may be necessary will be taken according to procedure and well established norms. Nobody will be spared.'"[54]

In 2009, he criticised Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, a "Marathi icon", for saying he was an Indian before he was a Maharashtrian.[4]

Opposition to Caste Based Reservations
Thackeray firmly opposed caste based reservation and said - "There are only two castes in the world, the rich are rich and the poor is poor, make the poor rich but don't make the rich poor. Besides these two castes I don't believe in any other casteism." The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) supported caste based reservations based on the Mandal commission. Thackarey, despite being warned that opposition to the reservations would be politically suicidal for the Shiv Sena party, opposed the BJP over this issue and said he would initiate "divorce proceedings against the BJP" if the BJP supported caste based reservations. This also let to his conflict with Chagan Bhujbal, an OBC, who later left the Shiv Sena.[55][56]

Views on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Thackeray defended Vinayak Damodar Savarkar against criticism and praised him as a great leader. In 2002, when President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam unveiled a portrait of Savarkar in the presence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Congress Party opposed the unveiling of the portrait and boycotted the function. Thackeray criticized the opposition and said "Who is [Congress president and Leader of the Opposition] Sonia Gandhi to object to the portrait? What relation does she have with the country? How much does she know about the history and culture of India?". Years later, when Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh made a statement that Savarkar was the first to suggest the two-nation theory that led to the partition, Thackeray defended Savarkar and accused Singh of distorting history.[57][58]

Support for Kashmiri Pandits
In 1990, an Islamic militant organization, through the columns of an Urdu daily, warned Kashmiri Pandits to leave the valley within 36 hours. Bal Thackeray got seats reserved in engineering colleges for the children of these Kashmiri Pandits in Maharashtra. He was one of the first persons to help them after which Punjab also followed suit. At a meeting with them he supported the idea that the Kashmiri Pandits could be armed for their self-defence against the Jihadis. [59][60][61]

Death
Thackeray died on 17 November 2012 as a consequence of a cardiac arrest.[62] Mumbai came to a virtual halt immediately as the news broke out about his death, with shops and commercial establishments shutting down.[63] The entire state of Maharashtra was put on high alert. The police appealed for calm and 20,000 Mumbai police officers, 15 units of the State Reserve Police Force and three contingents of the Rapid Action Force were deployed.[64] It was reported that Shiv Sena workers forced shops to close down in some areas.[4] The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for calm in the city and praised Thackeray's "strong leadership", while there were also statements of praise and condolences from other senior politicians such as the then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leader and MP (Former Deputy Prime Minister of India), L. K. Advani.[65]

He was accorded a state funeral[66] at Shivaji Park, which generated some controversy[67] and resulted from demands made by Shiv Sena.[68] It was the first public funeral in the city since that of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1920.[69] Thackeray's body was moved to the park on 18 November.[70] Many mourners attended his funeral, although there were no official figures. The range reported in media sources varied from around 1 million,[71] to 1.5 million[72] and as many as nearly 2 million.[73] His cremation took place the next day, where his son Uddhav lit the pyre.[74] Among those present at his cremation were senior representatives of the Maharashtra government and the event was broadcast live on national television channels.[75] The Parliament of India opened for its winter session on 21 November 2012. Thackeray was the only non-member to be noted in its traditional list of obituaries. He is one of few people to have been recorded thus without being a member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.[76] Despite having not held any official position, he was given the 21-gun salute, which was again a rare honour.[77] Both houses of Bihar Assembly also paid tribute.[78][79][80] The funeral expenses created further controversies when media reports claimed that the BMC had used taxpayers' money. In response to these reports, the party later sent a cheque of Rs. 500,000 to the Corporation.[77]

The Hindu, in an editorial, said regarding the shutdown that "Thackeray’s legion of followers raised him to the status of a demigod who could force an entire State to shut down with the mere threat of violence".[81] Following his death, police arrested a 21-year-old woman who posted a Facebook comment against him, as well as her friend who "liked" the comment. Shiv Sena members also vandalised the clinic owned by the woman's relative.[82]

Legacy
Thackeray was called 'Balasaheb' and Hindu Hruday Samrat ("Emperor of Hindu Hearts") by his supporters.[83] His yearly address at Shivaji Park was popular among his followers. In 2012, he instead gave a video-taped speech and urged his followers "to give the same love and affection to his son and political heir Uddhav as they had given him".[7] Thackeray was known to convert popular sentiment into votes, getting into controversies and making no apologies for it though his son has tried to tone down the party's stance after his death.[7] He was known for his inflammatory writings,[18] was seen as a good orator who used cruel humour to engage his audience.[7][13] He had a large political influence throughout the state, especially in Mumbai.[13] His party never had any formal internal elections nor was he ever formally elected as its chief at any point.[7] Gyan Prakash said, "Of course, the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement had mobilized Marathi speakers as a political entity, but it was Thackeray who successfully deployed it as an anti-immigrant, populist force."[15] He inspired Baliram Kashyap the leader of Bastar who often regarded as the Thackeray of Bastar.

A memorial for him was proposed at Shivaji Park but legal issues and opposition from local residents continue to delay it.[84]

Thackeray is satirised in Salman Rushdie's 1995 novel The Moor's Last Sigh as 'Raman Fielding'. The book was banned by the Maharashtra state government.[85] Suketu Mehta interviewed Thackeray in his critically acclaimed, Pulitzer-nominated, non-fiction 2004 book Maximum City. Thackeray previewed director Ram Gopal Verma's film Sarkar, which is loosely based on him, released in 2005.[13] The 2011 documentary Jai Bhim Comrade depicted a speech by Thackeray at a public rally, in which he articulated "genocidal sentiments" about Muslims, stating that they were the "species to be exterminated." The documentary followed this by showing several Dalit leaders criticizing Thackeray for his beliefs.[86]

Personal life
Thackeray was married to Meena Thackeray (née Sarla Vaidya) on 13 June 1948[1] and had three sons, Bindumadhav, Jaidev and Uddhav.[87] Meena died in 1995 and Bindumadhav died the following year in a car accident.[88] Uddhav succeeded his father as the leader of Shiv Sena.Uddhav's son, Aditya wants to continue the family dynasty by getting active in the youth wing of the party[89]

Raj is his brother Srikant's son. Despite Raj's breakaway from the main party, Raj continues to maintain that Thackeray was his ideologue and relations between them improved during Thackeray's final years.[7][32] Raj broke away from Shiv sena to form his own political party called the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Sanjeevani Karandikar is Bal Thackeray's sister.[2]

Thackeray drew cartoons for Marmik and contributed to Saamna till 2012. He cited the British cartoonist David Low as his inspiration

Kevin McHale

Kevin Michael McHale (born June 14, 1988)[1] is an American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality. Formerly of the boy band NLT, McHale is known for his role as Artie Abrams in the Fox comedy-drama series Glee. From 2014 to 2016, he hosted the British panel show Virtually Famous on E4. McHale is currently one of the four hosts of Sick of My Own Voice on Dash Radio
Early life
McHale was born in Plano, Texas to Christopher McHale and Elizabeth Payne, the youngest of four children. McHale is descended from immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland.[3] He grew up with actress and singer Demi Lovato.[4] He attended Academy of the Canyons High School in the Santa Clarita Valley in California.

Career
Music
Before becoming an actor, McHale joined the American boy band NLT, which stands for "Not Like Them". They were discovered by Chris Stokes in 2006, who subsequently signed them to his label, The Ultimate Group. On March 13, 2007, they released their first single, "That Girl". The following month, they opened (with Chantelle Paige) for The Pussycat Dolls.[5] The band also made a guest appearance in the film Bratz: The Movie as an auditioning band. While in the group, McHale, along with Timbaland and his bandmates, co-wrote the song "She Said, I Said (Time We Let Go)".[6] On April 30, 2009, member Travis Michael Garland announced that NLT had split.

McHale, who has a record deal with Universal Music Group, writes original music in his spare time. In an interview with Mario Lopez, McHale stated that he plans to pursue solo music post-Glee.[7] In 2015, McHale, Chris Moy, and Justin Thorne co-wrote the song "Heartless" which was featured on the latter's debut EP The Heartbreaker. That same year, he starred in the music video for Thorne's song "Summer Nights".[8] In April 2019, McHale released the pop song "Help Me Now", directed by Justin Thorne. The accompanying music video stars McHale and actor Nolan Gould. McHale described the video as having "a bootleg kinda gay Wes Anderson vibe."[9] In June 2019, he released the song "James Dean". The accompanying music video stars McHale and Pose actor Johnny Sibilly.[10]

In October 2019, he began competing in The X Factor: Celebrity.[11]

Acting
In 2007, McHale made a guest appearance on NBC's comedy series The Office in the season four episode "Launch Party", portraying a pizza delivery boy who is taken hostage by Michael Scott (Steve Carell). He then guest starred in three episodes of Nickelodeon's teen drama series Zoey 101 as Dooley Fibadoo. In 2008, McHale guest starred in two episodes of HBO's dark fantasy drama series True Blood, appearing as Neil Jones, a coroner's assistant.

In 2009, McHale landed his breakout role as Artie Abrams in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. His character, who uses a wheelchair after a car accident, joins the McKinley High glee club in the first episode. He had his first solo performance on the show when he sang "Dancing with Myself" in the episode "Wheels". In the episode "Dream On", he danced in a fantasy sequence to "The Safety Dance", and sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me". In the second-season episode "Britney/Brittany", he sang a solo (in a dream sequence) of "Stronger", after being anaesthetized for dental surgery. He also danced in a dream sequence alongside Harry Shum, Jr. to Michael Jackson's song "Scream" in the third-season episode "Michael". McHale, along with the main cast of the series, was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series four times, winning in 2010.[12]

In 2010, McHale appeared briefly in One Call's music video "Blacklight" alongside former NLT bandmate Justin Thorne, who was a member of One Call. In June 2011, McHale appeared in Katy Perry's music video for her song "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" as the character Everett McDonald.[13] On July 22, 2012, McHale co-hosted the 2012 Teen Choice Awards with Demi Lovato.[14] In January 2014, it was reported that McHale would host a comedy panel show, Virtually Famous, for the British digital television channel E4.[15] The show also features comedian Seann Walsh and radio presenter Chris Stark as series regulars and team captains.[16]

On February 24, 2014, it was announced that McHale had signed on to play a supporting role in the Kathy Bates and Dustin Hoffman led independent film Boychoir. McHale's character, Wooly, is a young music teacher who helps a troubled young boy at his school.[17] In July 2014, it was announced that he and Aaron Tveit had signed on to star in the comedy film They Might Be Kennedys. McHale will play one of the leads, Teddy Mulligan.[18] In April 2016, McHale joined the cast of Dustin Lance Black's drama miniseries When We Rise as AIDS activist Bobbi Campbell.[19]

Personal life
In September 2012, McHale and his dog Sophie appeared in a PETA ad campaign, promoting the adoption of shelter animals.[20] In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the 2016 Orlando gay nightclub shooting, in which McHale and other celebrities told the stories of the people killed there.[21] In September 2016, he co-created the mobile app +ONE, created with the intent to "provide people with one app to simplify the process of creating events."[22] He resides in the Hollywood Hills in a $1.025 million mid-century home.[23]

In April 2018, McHale came out as gay with a tweet.[24] He is dating actor Austin McKenzie.