Bill Gates: Today's The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Bill Gates is out of the picture. Oh, wait, you haven't heard? June 30th was Bill's last day. He stepped down and left Microsoft in the hands of the cool-headed Steve Ballmer.

I met Ballmer when Microsoft brought a bunch of user group officials to Redmond. That was back in 1986 or '87 and he impressed me as a gruff and loud guy. I'm not sure if he's changed. Want a taste of Steve-o? Check out these oh-so-revealing videos of the guy who’s now in charge: Hyperventilation, advertising, advertising, advertising!, and You'll Dunk Someday, Johhny!.

While I'm blathering on, I might as well tell you about the time Gates bought me a couple of beers. He came to a meeting of the Pasadena IBM Users Group in 1988. There must have been 1800 people at the event; a half dozen of the PIBMUG staffers went to a restaurant afterward with Bill and the Microsoft user group guy. Gates wasn't great company (he probably thought the same about us). He had a Coke and spent most of the evening fiddling and scribbling things on his cocktail napkin, most likely the code for Vista.

Bill Gates in The News
I want you to be able to sound knowledgeable if you head for a BBQ on the fourth, so I've rounded up a bunch of stories about Bill and his retirement.

First up is watching Bill say goodbye in this IDG News video

What's going to happen now that's Bill's out the door? Read Microsoft's Golden Age: Going, Going ... Gone? and Microsoft's Post-Gates Management Team

Lots of people wonder about Steve Ballmer and Computerworld's Eric Lai, is also wondering: Is Ballmer Right for Microsoft -- for 10 More Years?

Speculation abounds; you can read the opinions in After Bill Gates, Five Possible Futures for Microsoft and 15 Ways Microsoft Can Reinvent Itself for the Post-Gates Era

If you're interested in what Gates is going to do to keep busy, read Gates May Change Direction of Philanthropy and Crystal-ball Gazing With Bill Gates

On a humorous note, read 10 Potential Second Careers for Bill Gates and The Quotable Bill Gates

And Bill is highly quotable. Just ask the Seattle PI's Todd Bishop. Todd unearthed a particularly juicy rant where Gates tore into an assortment of Microsofties because he wasn't able to download Moviemaker. His experience was kinda sorta like the things we all encounter from time to time. Read Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog and make sure to listen to the KIRO-AM audio clip.

And finally, some people are going to be looking for another job: Bill Gates Impersonator Winds Down Career.

Update: Many of you have a Bill Gates story to tell. As space allows, I'll post links to them here. Take a look at My Two Hours With Bill Gates from Tom's blog.

Talkback
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Comments

Maybe he will now have more time to investigate his family ties to Hollywood!

http://www.familyforest.com/Bill_Gates.html

http://familyforest.wordpress.com

Alexisnexus

July 01, 2008

6:04 PM PT