Basically, because when you turn your computer on, you're going to see some screens and eventually type your password in, you want to have something you do with the keyboard that is signalling to a very low level of the software – actually, hard-coded in the hardware – that it really is bringing in the operating system you expect," said Gates.
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"So we could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't want to give us our single button. And so we had, we programmed at a low level that you had to – it was a mistake."
The guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't want to give us our single button. There, in a nutshell, is one big trade-off Microsoft made by partnering with third-party hardware firms rather than building its own computers, as Apple did. The strategy paid off handsomely, as Microsoft's operating systems became the global standard. But it wasn't without its downsides. Can you imagine Steve Jobs requiring users to perform such a wonky key command before they could begin to use an Apple device?
