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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates this week participated in his first meeting on Clubhouse, the increasingly popular invite-only conversation app, where he fielded a range of questions as part of an ongoing book tour.

microsoft-edge-ios-android.jpg

Gates was interviewed by journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, and given that the Clubhouse app is currently only available on iOS, naturally one of the questions that came up was whether Gates regularly uses an iPhone and if he prefers iOS over Android.
Clubhouse co-founder Paul Davison, who was also in the room briefly, told Gates and Sorkin that an Android version of the app is the "top feature" that they're currently working towards and are most excited about.

In a 2019 interview, Gates admitted that Microsoft losing to Android as the standard non-Apple phone platform was "one of one of the greatest mistakes of all time" for the Redmond-based company.

In fairness to Gates, it was Steve Ballmer who served as Microsoft's CEO between 2000 and 2014. Ballmer infamously laughed off the iPhone, but Apple had the last laugh, as Windows Phone failed to ever gain any significant market share among mobile operating systems and was ultimately abandoned.

During the Clubhouse meeting, Gates admitted he had an uneasy relationship with Steve Jobs, but called the former Apple CEO "unique." Other topics that came up in Wednesday's online discussion included the global health crisis, climate change, and Gates' new book "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster." The full interview is available on YouTube.

Article Link: Bill Gates Says His Preference for Android Over iPhone is Due to Pre-Installed Software
we all know what bill stands for, so let's just ignore this 'individual'...
 
Why are people getting worked up about this? Oh wait, this is a Apple forum so I guess it goes with the territory.

I’ve always had an Android phone, but last 4 years have been buying an iPhone for my wife. I prefer Android and love my Pixel phones. But tablets are always iPad as there is nothing that comes close (I’ve tried Android ones). This is the best mix for me.

Lately, Apple has loosened its grip a bit, so its not as ironclad system as it used to be. Great phones, but they’re not for everyone. I’m a tinkerer and I love the billion things I can customize to my taste without hand-holding.
 
lol honestly, why is Bill Gates getting so much attention lately? I think we know why ... the dude needs to go crawl under a rock.

For a supposed software developer, for Gates to prefer Android over iOS proves to me why I dropped Windows over a decade ago. Even just the basics ... like Android's JAVA-based hardware abstraction layer, is a terrible design for something like a mobile device where every last bit of performance per watt it critical.

The guy can't even figure that out and he's a software developer, the guy has absolutely no credibility with anything else he spews out. The amount of people, countries, and major political leaders listening to this troll named Bill for world-health information is laughable. His failure to even lead Microsoft back in the day, with hardware based translucency in the window renderer back in the early 2000's is another major fail, when Apple got it right.

I could go on ... but Gates should double up on the masks, and take one of his own vaccines. Enough said.
 
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What's all the Bill Gates hate? He was one of the people who made modern home computing possible and there would be no iPhone without PocketPC (and Palm Pilot). Plus, the dude gave away billions of dollars of his fortune, when most CEOs are trying to still amass more.

While I may prefer MacOS and iOS, trashing Gates is just dumb.
 
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, prefers the PC of phones-not surprised.

Bill Gates claims Android is easier for him to use than an iPhone-very surprised.

Aren’t iPhones dumbed down according to Android users? 🤷‍♂️
 
Reminds me of how he "prefers" other electric cars over the Teslas just because Tesla competes with some of his bets.
Not unique to Gates. All these highly driven founders don't like sharing the glory, even if they don't show it.
 
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I chose Mac and iOS becasue there is NO preinstalled software.

Besides, most preinstalled stuff is crap.

MacOS has a lot of subscription nagware/bloat. Apple TV app has been known to have a memory leak too.
 
doesn't even make sense.

  • Set Bing as default search engine? - no problem
  • Make Outlook default e-mail app? - no problem
  • Make mobile edge (is that a thing?) default browser? - no problem
  • Integrate one drive? - no problem
I would say the Office Apps are also far better optimised and integrated on iOS than Android.

Clearly he is just too lazy or hasn't used an iPhone much
I mean if I use office apps I use them on my iPad because of screen size, but I have used office on my Android phone it's just as optimized as my iPad.

But also - although a user of Mac, Linux, and Windows - my more frequently used machine is my Windows laptop and unlike with iOS I can sync my Android text messages thanks to a built in messaging app on Windows. It works like the Apple continuity feature, it even streams your photos and browser usage.

I'll mention the Microsoft launcher which once upon a time would sync your whole Windows timeline but now dissapointedly has been downgraded to a Microsoft 365 list of recents across your devices.

A lot of what you just said wasn't available on iOS before this year by the way so it is understandable for him to make a decision based on what was his only option for his needs at one point in recent history.
 
I'm a raving Apple fanboy so my response here will be typical, but, even so, I'm not sure his justification for using Android makes any real sense when iOS can easily accommodate the software he needs. Besides, "Android" is very patchily delivered and maintained and varies across device manufacturers, so the idea of some Microsoft purity on "Android" stretches credulity.

Half my friends have iPhones, half of them Android, usually because Android phones are generally cheaper (whether they are better "value" is another matter), but of course I tell them that they will one day grow up and get an iPhone. I am a bit of an iPhone snob, although I know I am so I criticise them with tongue firmly in cheek.

It's interesting, beyond the cost perspective, why people choose Android. Everyone has a choice, of course, in the same way people invest in Samsung or LG or Sony TVs. I like LG because I like WebOS, but I have also bought Hisense because they are good quality at a good price.

But my phone is so integrated into my life, my ecosystem, it's soooo personal, it would take a catastrophic decline at Apple HQ to make me switch, even though I know people who switch every so often. I'm too far down the rabbit hole now.
 
Man, some of you need to relax. A guy can't just have a preference? He probably doesn't spend any time thinking about his phone, unlike all of us on here. He's running a multi-billion dollar philanthropy. Probably the last thing he wants to do is tinker with his phone.
 
When people say Bill Gates was a software developer they insult Paul Allen. Bill Gates has always been an non-graduated Harvard wannabe MBA business suit. What made Bill tolerable and have any vision for the future was Melinda who is the one behind the foundation and much much more.
 
doesn't even make sense.

  • Set Bing as default search engine? - no problem
  • Make Outlook default e-mail app? - no problem
  • Make mobile edge (is that a thing?) default browser? - no problem
  • Integrate one drive? - no problem
I would say the Office Apps are also far better optimised and integrated on iOS than Android.

Clearly he is just too lazy or hasn't used an iPhone much
Bill Gates holds a grudge better than most people with money.
 
So…
Essentially he uses Android because they pre-install Microsoft apps and that’s easier for him. Is he not able to install them on his own? I’m not sure I understand what he is saying other than it comes off as a bad excuse for basically “I go with Android because they sometimes pre-install my company’s software and Apple doesn’t” which if that’s the case I think people would respect the honesty. Just my thoughts.
 
I would have thought it would have been quicker and easier to install the Microsoft apps & services you need on an iPhone over uninstalling all the bloatware/crapware that comes preinstalled on many Androids.
Very true. A lot of that bloat can only be removed if you Root/Jailbreak your phone first. I find it much easier/better to Root, install a new Bootloader, install custom ROM.

Yeah, but what about the warranty? Well, since my phone is usually 2 years or older when I first get them, there is no warranty anymore. No issues.
 
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