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A Harvard University dropout who ushered in the home
computer age and made billions of dollars along the way will have
his last official day of work at Microsoft on June 27.
Three people will essentially
fill the void left behind when Bill Gates retires from the company
he and friend Paul Allen co-founded in 1975.
Since Gate's began his transition
from leading Microsoft to heading his personally-bankrolled charity,
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , his job as chief software
architect has been handled by Ray Ozzie.
Craig Mundie inherited Gate's
chief research and strategy officer duties, while former Harvard
classmate Steve Ballmer became chief executive officer at the
Seattle-based software colossus.
Gates left Harvard after two
years to found the firm that became global powerhouse Microsoft. He
later received honorary degrees from Harvard and other universities.
After retiring, Gates will remain
chairman of the Microsoft board of directors and its largest
shareholder.
"I don't think anything is
going to drastically change the day he leaves," said Matt
Rosoff of the private analyst firm Directions On Microsoft.
"If he thinks something is
important and tells Steve Ballmer, Ballmer will listen to him."
Still, Gates's bespectacled
nerdish visage is an integral part of Microsoft's image and his
departure is symbolic, according to analysts.
"The challenge Microsoft has
when the founder departs is remembering its heart," said
analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.
"At some point the firm has
to take the essence of what made Bill Gates successful and make sure
that is preserved. Whether it is a company or a person, once you've
lost your heart there isn't much left but a shell."
Analysts say there are signs that
Microsoft has been struggling since Gates stepped away from managing
operations several years ago.
Microsoft has "missed a
number of opportunities" and the Windows and Office software on
which its fortune is built have stumbled.
Microsoft's Windows Vista
operating system released in January of 2007 has flopped with
customers, many of whom are clinging to its predecessor Windows XP.
"They are in trouble on the
desktop (computer software)," Enderle said. "Microsoft
started as a desktop vendor and suddenly it is its weakness."
Meanwhile, Apple's Macintosh computers have been gaining popularity.
While Windows is still used on 90
percent of the world's computers, Macintosh computers using Apple
operating systems has grown to more than five percent of the market.
The software giant also sees its
bottom line threatened by Google, which offers free online programs
that compete with Office and other packaged software sold by
Microsoft.
Microsoft failed in a recent bid
to buy Yahoo for nearly 50 billion dollars in order to combine
online resources to better battle Google in the Internet search and
advertising market.
Enderle said he doesn't see
"Gates's fingers" in the attempted Yahoo takeover, and
Gates was likely among board members that backed pulling the plug on
acquisition talks.
"Microsoft has to leverage
its strengths; right now it is thrashing a bit," Enderle said.
"The company is on its own. The training wheels are off. It
needs a way to point itself in the right direction and peddle like
hell."
Microsoft's server and tools
division is its most profitable unit. It's entertainment unit, which
sells Xbox videogame consoles and gaming software, has yet to make a
profit.
"You could see Microsoft
struggling after Bill Gates stepped out of day-to-day roles,"
Enderle said.
"A founder takes such a
larger-than-life role and directs a company in very subtle ways that
are often forgotten when a founder leaves. That gap, for a lot of
companies, has been almost terminal."
-- AFP
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