Everybody here is too familiar with the Ctrl-Alt-Del key sequence. Although it's commonly associated with closing unresponsive applications through the task manager -- and, in fact, it was originally meant to remain a developer-only tool to reboot a computer - it is also used as a way to log into Windows.
David Bradley, the designer of the original IBM PC and responsible for coming up with the key combination, famously poked fun at then Microsoft CEO Bill Gates on stage at the 20th anniversary of the IBM PC in 2001. "I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous," Bradley said. The audience laughed and applauded at the clear reference to Windows app instability at the time, and though he softened the jab adding that he was merely referencing the Windows NT secure logon procedure, Gates looked far from amused.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_lg7w8gAXQ[/youtube]
Ten years later, in an interview with Cnet, Bradley said he didn't understand why Gates decided to make Ctrl-Alt-Del a login feature, adding that "I guess it made sense for them." Well, not quite.
Speaking at a Harvard fundraising campaign earlier this week Gates was asked about the decision to use the three-finger sequence as a log in command. Funnily, after explaining they needed a low level way of signaling the OS so malicious software could not fake the login screen during boot and steal passwords, and that wanted a single button but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design wouldn't give it to them, he just sort of gives up and admits -- much to the audience's amusement -- that it was a mistake.
Much like trying to dance on a soaped up floor then....
Here is the link to the Cnet Interview as well, it is interesting to find out some of the backstory to BIOS and the development of IBM machines.
Code:
http://cnettv.cnet.com/happy-30th-birthday-ibm-pc/9742-1_53-50109594.html