What does someone who’s been covering Microsoft for 25 years think about Bill Gates’ retirement? Ask Mary Jo Foley, or consider her book, Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post Gates Era. I read and I found it to be somewhat encyclopedic in its breadth and knowledge of the inner workings of Microsoft, every page chock-full of historical context and deep knowledge and liberal use of external sources. It’s all especially impressive since Microsoft PR decided against officially supporting Gates-transition stories. And she plays neither fault-blind sympathiser nor superficially informed critic; her work is pitch perfect, calling out the obscene and yet recommending doubters not count out Microsoft as Bill leaves.
Joel Spolsky has a very interesting account of what it was like working as a program manager for Microsoft in 1992. We don’t want to ruin the story, because it’s a really good one that you should check out for yourself, but the gist of it is that Bill Gates used to be extremely hands-on with his software developers.
Of all the ware Microsoft churns out from its sweatshop of “lightning bolt, lightning bolt” nerds, Windows is the one most inexorably tied to the public image of the company. As Bill Gates leaves the building, we look back on the last baby birthed–if not fully gestated–under his watch, the swan song operating system that he himself has issues with. Although we agree that Vista could have used a bit more time shoved back into the silicon womb for some feature buffing and bug fixing, it’s not nearly as bad as most people are making it out to be. That’s right, I’m actually happy with Windows Vista, which I use about one-third of the time I spend at a computer.
Creating an organisation bent on world domination takes more than just a maniacal leader with a high, cackling voice. It takes underlings. Henchmen, if you will. But these are no Bond villains. Bill Gates rewarded his geniuses with stock, just as they rewarded him with their hard work and ingenuity—and they wound up very rich. Over 10,000 Microsoft minions have become millionaires through the company’s runaway success over the past three decades, and more than a few have dedicated themselves to the kinds of causes and business ventures that only the super-well-heeled can afford. Here are some of Bill’s Made Men (and Women).
There are over a dozen people working at our fair Gizmodo, but as a Windows user, I’m in a definite minority. I still rock XP, and I’m pretty happy with that. Why haven’t I switched to Macs? Plenty of reasons, not least of which being that I’m just too smart to switch to a Mac. That’s right, I’m too smart for Macs. As Bill Gates’s retirement rapidly approaches I figured now is a good time to lay out why I’m loyal to his OS.
Bill Gates is officially “transitioning” from Microsoft this week, but really, he checked out a long time ago. His Big Hairy Vision isn’t just modernising the world anymore–it’s saving it. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the world’s largest charitable foundation, with a current asset trust endowment of US$37.3 billion. Last year, it gave away US$2 billion. Its work is divided into three major programs: Global Development, Global Health and United States. It’s not your average charity though–and not just because two of its three trustees, Bill and Warren (no last names needed) constantly jockey for the title of world’s richest man. It’s the smartest. And that’s why it just might succeed.
newVideoPlayer("/gatescharacters.flv", 475, 376,""); So what does Bill Gates really have to show for his years of hard work? Sure he built a software empire, and yeah he has been known as the richest man alive. But those things aren’t as cool as being immortalised on film and in song. Maybe. Either way, he’s been cartooned, acted, clayed, and even sung about. So with Bill’s retirement only days away, we thought it was only fitting we gave you a mash-up of all these green sweater, glasses wearin’ characters.
With Bill Gates saying good-bye to Microsoft this week, we’re realising more by the day how much we’ll miss the guy. And when reading through the many interviews floating around this week, we came across this jewel from 2003. A leaked memo from Microsoft, it’s several pages of Gates just laying into his design and programming staff for–among other issues–his personal experience when trying to install Windows Moviemaker. And it’s a very fulfilling read if you’ve ever been frustrated by a Microsoft product.
Bill Gates wrinkled his nose at me. “You just squished your question.”
The time has come. On June 27th, Bill Gates will stop commuting to Microsoft’s Redmond campus on a daily basis, and begin full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. You probably know that for Bill, retirement doesn’t mean what it meant for your dear old granddad. He will still visit his Redmond office once per week, doing what Ballmer tells him to do. Nevertheless, it’s the furthest Bill will ever separate himself from the software biz while he’s living on this planet, so it’s something to commemorate, for better or worse.
