Congratulations and good luck Mr. Gates! We're going to miss you!

MasterDevwi

Congrats Bill, your moving from being an inspiration for computer world, to an inspiration for the whole world. With out you we might all be different!

Keep up the good work.

-Tony

KronikFpLiOnYkD

So long Bill, and thanks for all the software.

J.T.

To Bill Gates: May The Force be with you!

gravitation

God bless Bill Gates and Gizmodo, too!

gravitation

I love my Macs but I always like you a lot more than Steve Jobs. Your heart it always in the right place and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere else anytime soon. Congratulations, Bill. : )

alejandrrroh

I wish Bill all the best, but I wonder if it wasn't just a little impolitic of him to choose to retire on the same day Addy stepped down from Giz.

frigg???

:D

buyj3llo

Farewell to the king nerd of all nerds!

dambo29

It should have ended with the BSOD, but that wouldn't have been tasteful.

Nice.

DeadWriter

@shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog:

I love the Gates.

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

Hey Bill,

The marriage proposal is still good.

Thanks

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

The guy is quitting just when things with Apple are getting interesting!

Wuss!!

MINI Driver

@DeadWriter: Tasteful or not, that's what I expected to see pop up...

TVGenius

New age. New man (hopefully more compassionate). Thanks Mr Gates.

gravitation

Well Bill, the video said it right: you made a difference. no matter how many times apple sues you for stealing their shit, it was YOU who made sure that everyone now has a goddamn computer on their desk (computers sharing stuff), and it's you who i think of when i get 600 seeders for my xp pro torrent.

j/k, i actually bought my copy of xp and its MCE, not pro.

Alfonzo

Bill, if you meet a lady in the future and she requests your autograph, don't make a mockery of her.

Best regards,
- Jeyl

Jeyl

Way to go Bill, thanks for the memories ^_^

win3.1 Forever :)

Overheal

Wow, almost sounds like the guy is dying or something...
I say welcome Bill! Because I'm shure his retirement will be even more awesome than his work!

So welcome to retirement, we're expecting lots of nice stuff from you!

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

That was good.

But, here's a small tip for flash. Put the layer for the head under the layer for the car.

I still liked it though.

mferrari

The age of geek. The age of nerd. Any and all who were, are or will be of that age - salute you, sir. Regardless of what we may like or dislike about you personally or professionally - you stand above all, emblematic, as the personification of the dawn of this new age. The age of Geek. The age of Nerd. Well done. Congratulations. Don't stop.

For the record I hate everything Microsoft, absolutely despise it to the core, but you, Mr. Gates, you I respect.

Get a haircut.

Cheers.

robbo

Godspeed, Bill.

theCornerinvasion

The world is in your debt for setting the standard for computing technology as it is today. Many of us owe you most or part of our careers. Saying "Thank you" simply doesn't sound like enough. Can't wait to see what you do next.

APOLAUF

@shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog: That's beautiful.

[tear]

FredicvsMaximvs

I expected something funny...

Awesom-o

Bill Gates you are awesome...have a good life and make us proud :D

Mike918

@APOLAUF:

Bring me a bucket!!

MINI Driver

Goodbye my employer. hope i see you before you die.

Amiash is jealous

Thanks for the good & bad times Bill.

I'd write more but it seems the three fingers I use most on my PC are continually pressing CRTL-ALT-DEL.

Good luck in your future prospects and if you know a good hand surgeon I'd appreciate his phone number please.

keithldick

Bill Gates I cant think of to many people that have impacted my life the way you have! The countless hours spend trying to untangle the poorly developed software you through at us so often like feed to hogs. And now as you gallop on your white horse into the great horizon, you live behind your retarded last sibling " Vista" for us to nurture.

But all jokes aside, you have made a huge impact on the world not only through your software but through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Good luck to you and your family.

P.S. -Maybe you and your wife can start a foundation for all of us mentally drained veterans of the Windows era.

danjuan

Godspeed Mr. Gates.

I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness with your retirement. It seems like it's the end of an era. An era that defined much of my childhood.

DestroyerMTL

Long Live GATES !!

Domogeek

...who?

Nickbee

William Gates III, You have been a friend to all and a hero to many. Without you we would still be using an abacus in math class. Thank You.

tekman94

@MINI Driver:

MINI Driver. You are a wuss. Attacking one of the greatest men of all time on his retirement day.

On a side note. Apple is only one of the beggars trying to pillage Microsoft Castle. Microsoft has long-term goal that out class and out weight Apple. Apple just can't do it.

Cursemaster0

wonder if it will be as smooth when steve jobs steps down

mastaassmasta

AGENALORUS!

Stacky Botrus

@MINI Driver: you my friend, need more than a bucket...you need to grow up & get a life. If you can't say nothing good then don't say nothing.

Have fun Bill G!

WD40

An evil capitalist you may be, but without you computer geeks and videogame nerds would still be at the very bottom of the pile, and with you we have slowly climbed up.

Why thank you good sir.

Communist_Gamer

Your product (Windows 95 (and Lego Island)) introduced me to computers, since then I have learned so much. Thank You!!

Yeebles

Godspeed Bill.. what you have set out to do will have a bigger impact in humanity similar to the one you had on PC humanity.

darthvader66

Bill,
If you think you're getting away this easy, you're wrong. I want that cure for cancer on my desk by noon!!!
,Kayne

HaLfRiCa

Goodbye....

nosauten

now he can focus on using the vast wealth of the bill and melinda gates foundation to better the world...

Rizzuh

@Cursemaster0:

Greatest men of all time! Oh please - the drama!

'Bill Bill, can I have your babies, oh Bill, you are so awesome and god like, and you are super rich and produced PCs that have enabled millions to have their identities stolen - you are da man'

MINI Driver

@MINI Driver:

You should be banned. That's all i NEED to say.

Bill Gates is a visionary.

spacecadetdavsot

I will give Bill credit for this statement though:

[pulsar.esm.psu.edu]

MINI Driver

@spacecadetdavsot:

This is Bill Gates of Microsoft we're talking about isn't it?

The one who said in 2004 that he would eliminate SPAM in 2 years...

The one who co-wrote 'The Road Ahead' in 1995, and completely failed to foresee the impact of the Internet - then had his minions go back and re-write it for later editions, so it looked like he'd predicted the future all along.

The one who wrote the "Trustworthy Computing" memo to MS staff in 2002, making security the central focus - yet, despite Microsoft's efforts hi-tech crime is booming and Windows PCs are at the heart of it. Some anti-virus companies now report that there are more than one million items of malware in existence and Windows PCs are the target of choice for the bad guys.

Yep, that's visionary all right.

You just need to get a perspective that includes the downsides, rather than going with the warm and fuzzy stuff posted here.

MINI Driver

I love you Mr. Gates

Pyao lyang shen

Yippee!! Now that Bill is retired, he doesn't have to hide his Mac G3 in the attic anymore.

prstevens

@Cursemaster0:

In fact Cursemaster0, let them say whatever. Apple Base Camp even comment that back in '97 Jobsy took all that Cash from MS on one of their "great moves", and that Apple wasn´t bailed out. Blinded they do not seem to realize that '97s $150 million was in fact a lot of money for them, but for MS it was "pocket money"… "Here kid, have a nickel and get yourself a toy". Then Bill easily got back his $150 million with all the licenses that they (Apple fans) paid for when buying a Mac with Internet Explorer in it, during 5 years. Return over investment was good reason alone. In addition, how much more money most MS have made out of all Office for Mac licenses? It was like taking candy from a child, may even have been easier than the $50,000 DOS deal!

Bill, thanks for everything surrounding Computers and Business.

VHMP01

As a PhD student in C.S., Bill Gates is one of my heroes and idols. He's proof that hard working smart people can rise to the top without selling their souls. I wish him all the best, and I have great faith that his charity foundation will be one of the best the world has ever known.

sgware

Wow...it's weird. Hearing Bill Gates and retire in the same sentence.

Dyscord