Surprisingly, in a book about Microsoft, I don't think there are any real winners or losers. The story is more of a big chapter in the lives of the protagonists. They're still young enough, and ambitious enough, to achieve greater things. Where will they go from here? I had to ask Mr. Drummond what he thought the repercussions of his book may be for his protagonists, and Microsoft?

Mr. Drummond

I let all three Beastie Boys read draft copies of the manuscript for fact-checking. Alex was out of Microsoft and understandably more cavalier about certain incendiary elements in the book at the time. Today I think he winces at some of the stuff in the book, now that he's running a Web start-up and a likely IPO candidate. Many at Microsoft don't like Alex and I doubt Renegades will enhance his appeal there. But the software world is an incestuous gene pool - those two could wind up working together some day. He and I are on very amicable terms.

Eric was surprised by the book's edgy tone, but didn't deny that the events in Renegades were true and accurate. Eric retired from Microsoft the day Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson announced his findings that the company is a predatory monopolist. He remains loyal to Microsoft. I have no doubt the company would welcome him back, despite his antipathy for some inside. He and I are on very amicable terms.

Craig had a copy of the draft manuscript for five months then scanned it virtually on the eve of the official publication date. He remains thoroughly upset about how he was portrayed in the book. He's also thoroughly convinced the book will do him career damage. He and I, unfortunately, are not on amicable terms.

Microsoft has bigger problems to worry about than Renegades. But I predict selected worker bees from the company and the company's PR flacks will be called out to say the book "does not accurately reflect Microsoft," which, of course, they'll know to be untrue.

For me, the story of DirectX, and Chromeffects, is the story of Microsoft's half-hearted forays into consumer computing and multimedia. There are people inside the company that know what it takes, but Microsoft just isn't cool enough for consumer computing and multimedia. Even when it tries to be cool, insiders, fearful adversaries, and the press are so determined to contain the company that Microsoft becomes the modern day equivalent of Big Blue; a monolith in blue suits replaced by one in a tee-shirt.

Microsoft is the company everyone loves to hate. Renegades of the Empire goes deeper than that and shows the gray in Microsoft's personality, and colors the edges with personalities that we can relate to. You may not find yourself changing your views of Microsoft, if you have one, but you may come to understand the company a little better. The Beastie Boys are Microsoft's human face. It makes a refreshing change to see that. With so much no-brain nonsense written about Microsoft, as if it were an iron suit worn by Bill Gates, you'll enjoy looking at the corner of the empire that directly impacts your lives, the one which drives the multimedia software you buy, the hardware you use, and the fact that you'll probably never play a DOS game in your life, unless you're over thirty, and have bad credit.