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Tribute to Bill

October 22, 2012 •

bill-hill-shows-cleartype-to-al-goreMy col­league and Face­book friend, Bill Hill, died sud­denly last week. Bill was an unsung hero, a cru­sader in the quest to improve the read­abil­ity of text and books on screen. He invented ClearType for Microsoft Win­dows (shown here demon­strat­ing ClearType to Al Gore).

Dur­ing his decade or so at Microsoft, Bill cham­pi­oned some of Microsoft’s most impor­tant con­tri­bu­tions to read­abil­ity, includ­ing bet­ter on-screen typog­ra­phy (fonts like Geor­gia, Tre­buchet, Ver­dana and Tahoma). That said, he lamented that typo­graphic improve­ments from Microsoft often lagged Apple’s con­tri­bu­tions by a decade or more…

He was on a life­long cru­sade — sadly under-appre­ci­ated at Microsoft — to improve read­abil­ity and access to do-it-your­self pub­lish­ing. He was a pio­neer in e‑book tech­nol­ogy, more than a decade before Ama­zon finally achieved a suc­cess­ful mass mar­ket offer­ing with the Kin­dle. He described some of his pio­neer­ing work in his blog, The Future of Read­ing.

Live Life Large

Bill was an eccen­tric and a con­trar­ian, a cre­ative thinker, a man of fiercely held con­vic­tions. In dis­course as in food, Bill pre­ferred things hot and spicy.

Bill com­posed and played music, inspired by causes, self-pub­lish­ing a num­ber of record­ings. You can find links to some of them on his Face­book page.

After early retire­ment from Microsoft, he lived for a year or so on Kauai where he indulged his pas­sion for surf­ing — even wear­ing a head­cam at times to share the dan­gers and delights with his Face­book friends.

He loved his fam­ily, he loved nature and the great out­doors.

His pass­ing is a reminder to enjoy life, breath by breath. And to spend time with the peo­ple you love.

Good­bye, Bill. We’ll miss you and your fire!

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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