A man who introduced himself as a Microsoft employee said that a problem had arisen while developing a new version of Windows and asked if I could help.
“It’s summer vacation, so I have time, but what kind of problem is it?”
“It’s hard to explain over the phone, so could you visit us? The company is thinking of paying you a fair fee if you help.”
Just then, summer school had ended, and with the Amazon.com office that had been in the garage next door moving away—since I used to spend most of my time walking there—I suddenly had a lot of free time.
My parents also permitted the visit when they heard it was from Microsoft, and I headed to the Microsoft headquarters in Seattle in Mom’s car.
“James, welcome. I contacted you, but they said you were at summer school, so I’ve been waiting for it to end.”
As I entered the development room at Microsoft headquarters, the best engineers from all over America were working there.
I didn’t want to admit it, but seeing them, I could understand why the kids at camp teased them by calling them nerds.
“What did you call me for? I heard Windows 95 is being announced next month, so there must be a problem with the license I sold.”
“There’s no problem with the code you made. We bought the license because you completed the features we were trying to put into the Chicago project—that is, Windows 95—and it seemed superior to the way we were building it, so we tried to follow your build.”
The development team leader explained at great length, but the conclusion was that the program I, Jaesung, had made was based on 16-bit coding, while the new Windows 95 being released this time was 32-bit based, and errors occurred while adapting the code to that.
“So, do you want me to recode it newly based on 32-bit?”
“Huh? Is that possible? Just finding the errors would be enough, but if you code it directly, that would be the best.”
I had intended to just point out the parts that needed moderate fixing, but seeing the developers with dark circles down to their cheekbones from consecutive all-nighters, I thought it would be better to do it myself.
Besides, if I explained it from the side, I might accidentally mention techniques or theories that come out after 1995, so it was easier to just make it myself.
Personally, Jaesung also had a reason to want to get involved in Windows 95 development.
Before Windows 95 came out, computers were difficult terminals with an unknown cipher written only on a black screen called MS-DOS, but with the intuitive and easy-to-use Windows 95, ordinary people could easily learn computers.
As accessibility improved, PCs were introduced in various fields, becoming an important trigger for the explosive growth of the IT industry.
With Windows 95 coming out, the Macintosh, which had barely survived in visual work fields, will collapse.
While discussing with the team leader how to proceed with fixing the errors in Windows 95—which would make William Gates the world’s richest man and was its greatest contributor—workers in the hallway started buzzing.
“James! You’ve grown taller in the meantime. How have you been?”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been well. William looks very busy.”
“I’ve been out of my mind preparing a very important project.”
The source of the commotion, Microsoft’s CEO William Gates, appeared leading several executives, including Steven Ballmer.
“How far have you been explained?”
“I’ve been fully briefed on where the errors are occurring. But I think it would be faster if I make it new rather than fixing it.”
“This time, you have to code it to match 32-bit—will that be possible?”
“I haven’t been idle in the meantime, so no problem.”
William Gates was satisfied with Jaesung’s confident answer and said he would give a $5 million performance bonus upon success.
Even if it wasn’t completed in time, he said not to worry as they would generously cover the outsourcing labor costs, and to do my best.
With Amazon.com moving out, I had nothing to do for the rest of the vacation—this worked out well.
Windows 95 was preparing for release in mid-August, not far away.
To meet the schedule, I had to make the maximize, minimize, and hide functions of windows work normally as soon as possible.
This is a piece of cake.
If I set my mind to it, I could finish it in two days, but showing too outstanding a performance could raise suspicions.
Moreover, there was a part that was not easy for Jaesung to solve: coding in a basic way possible for the era.
First, I need to check the current way Windows 95 is built and create the program to match that level!
While Jaesung signed the contract and they scheduled it considering that I was a middle school student on vacation, William Gates was meeting with executives.
“William, are you really going to entrust the fate of our company to a middle schooler?”
“In the current situation, don’t we have to grasp at straws? Maybe the middle schooler can solve the problem.”
“No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem right.”
The bald engineer boss Steven Ballmer doubted Jaesung’s ability, but surprisingly, the ruthless William Gates wanted to give him a chance.
“I’m pinning hopes on the kid, but we can’t completely entrust the company’s fate to him. Let’s use both tracks simultaneously: us fixing the errors while he works.”
Thus, the competition between the middle schooler and the Microsoft development team began.
Feeling like going to work at a company after a long time, Jaesung happily went to Microsoft headquarters by Mom’s car by 9 a.m.
“I’ll come pick you up at 5. Don’t cause trouble, and listen to the adults.”
“The people here are less threatening than middle schoolers, so it’s fine. Don’t worry.”
Since it was an outsourcing contract, child labor laws didn’t strictly apply, but to get parental permission, I requested 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“Seeing James arrive, it’s already 9 o’clock.”
“Gabriel, did you stay up all night at the company again without going home?”
“I slept about two hours on the floor. Not sleeping too much seems to reduce efficiency.”
With the release date not far off, most developers were solving lodging and meals at the company.
“You all look like you haven’t eaten breakfast—eat this while working.”
“Today it’s tuna kimbap? I didn’t know tuna and mayonnaise went so well together.”
“Is there no japchae? That was delicious.”
“Japchae takes a lot of effort to make, so I can’t do it often. Instead, tomorrow it’s pork stir-fry over rice.”
At first, Mom packed Jaesung’s lunch and added some extra for the company staff to eat together, but the staff who got a taste asked her to make lunches for them too.
Excited by the good reactions to her food, Mom bought ingredients in bulk from Costco and made lunches enough for over twenty people.
“Please tell your mother we ate well.”
“She says thank you for eating deliciously. When Windows 95 is released and you have some free time, come to our house for a barbecue party. I’ll make something even tastier.”
The staff who initially looked down on and guarded against the middle schooler Jaesung quickly opened their hearts to his smarter-than-expected and polite demeanor.
They had kept distance due to his neat and somehow sophisticated appearance, but upon confirming he was a fellow nerd, they quickly became friendly.
From Jaesung’s perspective, he was still writing classical code builds, but Microsoft’s developers were the highest-paid and most capable people in America at the time.
Conversations with them were like sweet rain after a drought for Jaesung, who had been tormented by kids at camp.
Spending happy time going to Microsoft instead of school, two weeks passed quickly.
The requested features were already completed, but wanting to come to work even one more day, I checked multiple times for any errors or over-techniques.
“James, I heard you completed the features—is that true?”
“I’ve finished and am checking for errors, but haven’t found any yet.”
“We’ll do the testing ourselves. You’ve worked really hard.”
Fearing the release would be delayed if later, I revealed it was complete.
Again, William Gates and executives rushed over, tested it directly, and admired while dissecting the code Jaesung made.
“It’s really clean and highly complete. It seems like you code better than me?”
“If we run more beta tests and no issues, we can release it as is.”
“Hahaha! What a relief. Let’s prepare to meet the scheduled release date. If problems are found, it’s not too late to fix in updates.”
The competition with the Microsoft development team ended in Jaesung’s victory, and Windows 95 was decided to release on schedule.
Seeing the executives and William Gates cheering in joy at the safe completion, something felt off, but since I couldn’t quite recall, I let it go.
“As per the contract, I’ll give you $5 million. If you weren’t a middle schooler, I’d want to hire you as a full-time employee.”
“I think I’d earn more with separate outsourcing contracts? If you give me Microsoft stock, I’ll consider it.”
“Haha. Aiming for company stock— you’re sharp as expected.”
William Gates signed the $5 million check with a smiling face.
“See you at the new product announcement event.”
William invited Jaesung to the event announcing Windows 95’s new features.
“Ah! I remember now. Is the same thing going to happen again this time?”
On the way home from Microsoft, thinking about attending the announcement made me realize why it felt off.
A great disaster would occur, but there was no way for Jaesung to stop it.
Back home, while catching up on postponed summer vacation homework, an invitation arrived from Microsoft.
Excluding busy Dad, I went to the venue with Mom and my sister, where William Gates, Steven Ballmer, and key executives on stage explained the newly releasing Windows 95 features.
“Windows 95 will open a new era in the computer market.”
“We have created an operating system that anyone can use, not just for experts!”
Compared to just DOS with letters on a black screen, Windows 95 that works with a mouse click was truly a new world for the audience at the announcement.
Apple had already shown similar features, but they were hard for ordinary people to access due to price and functions, while Windows 95 was made targeting the masses at an affordable price.
The audience responded enthusiastically to each new feature explanation, and the presenters, recalling their hardships, felt emotions rising.
“This is Windows 95!”
“Ah… no….”
In the end, the great disaster Jaesung feared occurred, and the key Microsoft executives, unable to contain their excitement, started dancing, shaking arms and hips to upbeat music.
The engineers, who normally couldn’t even find partners at high school proms let alone clubs, awkwardly grooved, creating a horrific massive cringe party.
“Kyaaahaha! Oppa, those uncles are so cute.”
“Ugh~! Watching this live. This will be embarrassing fodder for life.”
Jaesung sighed, looking at William Gates shyly waving his arms side to side from one corner.