Gates says sorry for causing users 'incredible pain'

Bill Gates has ordered an early spring clean to scrub bug-ridden code from Windows.

Developers have been told to stop working on the next version of the Windows operating system and go back over the source code of existing products and rewrite any shoddy work.

Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft, ordered the code scrub as part of the software giant's Trustworthy Computing Initiative aimed at making Windows more reliable and secure.

The clean-up targets the entire Microsoft product portfolio including the recently released .NET tools.

In recent months, key parts of .NET, such as Passport, Instant Messenger and Universal Plug and Play, have fallen victim to high profile security flaws.

Richard Purcell, director of corporate privacy at Microsoft, explained Gates' decision by claiming the software maestro was "really annoyed by the incredible pain we put everyone through in computing".

However, the move has provoked concern among the development community that the housekeeping frenzy might delay the first major package of updates and bug fixes for Windows XP. There is also concern that it could delay future releases of Windows.

The spring clean comes weeks after Microsoft decided to send its entire 20,000 strong Windows developer team to a security boot camp.