Bill Gates to Step Down from Microsoft

Geoffreyerffoeg writes "According to Microsoft PressPass, Bill Gates will be leaving his role at Microsoft in July 2008. He'll be staying with the company, but is also moving to a more fulltime position with the Gates Foundation. 'Microsoft Corp. today announced that effective July 2008 Bill Gates, chairman, will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company announced a two-year transition process to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates' daily responsibilities, and said that after July 2008 Gates would continue to serve as the company's chairman and an adviser on key development projects.' CTO Ray Ozzie will assume Gates' role of Chief Software Architect, and CTO Craig Mundie will also take on more leadership responsibility."

Holy Sh*t

[Anonymous Coward]

Time to sell off my M$ stock...

Oh shit

[mgabrys_sf]

What are we supposed to do with our "assimilation jokes"?!

I guess we'll just have to make do with "flying chairs". Oh and Windows Vista.

Crap - I just sprayed Mountain Dew all over the screen again...

You happy Slashdot??!

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

That borg icon finally got to him ... should be ashamed of yourselves!

Meet the new Boss

[sakusha]

Same as the old Boss.

Thank you

[murat]

Thank you Bill, for everything you've done for the industry and the world.

Uhhhh...

[Anonymous Coward]

Two questions.

1) Does that mean we won?
2) Will he take Windows with him? Please?

Welcome Ray ozzie

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one, welcome my new Ray Ozzie overlord

Politics

[Anonymous Coward]

Hes going to run for president.

Cleaning up his act?

[nstlgc]

I bet he just wants to make sure he makes it into heaven after all...

Captain to leave the ship?

[Nesetril]

July 2008 - is that before or after Vista ships?

Resume

[Thunderstruck]

What part(s) of my resume should I brush up when applying for the job of "master villian and arch-nemisis of WonderTorvalds?"

On a more serious note, there are a lot of people with large emotional investments pent up in disliking Mr. Gates. The transition is going to be tough. It's almost like Inigo Montoya at the end of The Princess Bride. Maybe they should turn to piracy?

Oh, no!

[Spaceman40]

Whatever will we do with the Borg-Gates icon?

who knew

[User 956]

"I believe with great wealth comes great responsibility"

Who would have guessed that Bill Gates was also Spider-man?

Re:He's not leaving

[hahafaha]

That's right. In fact, the title of the article, although it grabs your attention immediately, is very wrong. He is just not going to do as much actual work, but he is still chairman.

Oh, and a note to those that are saying that we can't make fun of him anymore: we still can, because he *started* microsoft. What will we do when he dies? We will still make fun of him!

Re:Thank you

[LewsTherinKinslayer]

Thank you Bill, for everything you've done for the industry and the world.

Signed, Steve Jobs

-- PS: I'll fucking kill you.

Re:Oh shit

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Flying chairs, thrown by a Donkey-kong like figure with Balmer's face. Yep, I could just see that being a standard screen saver in Vista.

Re:Oh, no!

[Anti_Climax]

I say we change it to a monkey throwing a chair :-D

Chairman...

[Spy der Mann]

He's going to stay chairman.

He's replacing Ballmer!?!? O.o

Re:Captain to leave the ship?

[ashmon]

That's before it ships, but after they have the first service pack written.

Re:Politics

[Kelson]

What, a software magnate running for President? Yeah, right! As if that would ever happen!

Oh, crap [wikipedia.org].

Doubtful

[wardk]

So how long can he stay out of the game? Not long I suspect.

just wait until he notices his company following antitrust law, behaving ethically, paying to license code they use.

he'll swoop right in and put a stop to that real fast

Cant forgive Ozzie for Lotus Notes.

[LibertineR]

I give Gates credit for wanting to devote more time to his charitable activities.

That said, I think it is time to sell off the rest of my shares, since the man who gave the world Lotus Notes is now the Chief Software Architect at Microsoft. Sorry Ray, you are a good guy, but I cant forgive you for Notes, my man.

He has a LOONG way to go to catch up with EARL

[unity100]

He's got a loooooong list to clear out before he can get positive on karma.

Re:He's not leaving

[Jugalator]

What will we do when he dies? We will still make fun of him!

Yeah, nothing like some black humor from geeks disconnected from reality!

I picture some zealots crushing his tomb stone and leaving a note with the words
"... and so, at last, Mammon fell, and this final puny sign of his evil rule was shattered!" -- From the Book of Mozilla, 8:12

Re:Captain to leave the ship?

[Belgarion89]

After Vista ships, but before people figure what all the new features do.

Re:I'm no fan of Mr. Gates's morality in general

[bdleonard]

Yes, but right now they do it with a smile. After this, no more smile.

In a separate statement, Steve Jobs announced

[grolaw]

his latest Apple branded product - the iWin corporate management app. (co-branded with Bil-b-gone).

Typical of Job's Keynote addresses, the iWin app is ready for the market and has shipped-out.

Fashion designers everywhere are tooling up to meet the anticipated black turtleneck demand and are cutting the production of pocket protectors and short-sleeve dress shirts.

Steve Ballmer was last seen applying for a job with Disney.

Ballmer's response

[saleenS281]

When asked about his thoughts on this position change, Ballmer was quoted:

"I'll fucking KILL him!"

Re:Thanks Bill

[Moofie]

"are just monuments to the terrible and dihonest ways Andrew Carnegy gained his vast fortune"

Pretty much, yeah. That's what I think of when I see his name. Which is spelled "Carnegie".

Re:Chairman...

[Slithe]

Here is a simple diagram:

    o -- Joke

    o -- You
    -|-
    / \

Conversation just a few years from now:

[ClosedSource]

Dad: "You can play your XBox 10 for another hour, then it's bedtime. Don't get assimilated by Microsoft Borg, boys. Ha Ha."

Son #1: Looks at his younger brother rolls his eyes. "Er, we won't Dad"

Dad leaves the room.

Son #2: What's dad talking about?

Son #1: I think he went to school with a guy named Gates who was always throwing chairs or something. Don't ask him about it - we'll get a long boring story.

Re:Chairman...

[Joebert]

My head is made of jokes that are slightly off ?

Government's Response

[Sponge Bath]

At which point Dick Cheney said "Go fuck yourself!",
and shot Ballmer in the face.

Ha! Didn't see that plot twist coming did you?
Man, this stuff writes itself.

Re:Government's Response

[Bob Uhl]

Ballmer was on the way to recovering, when Ted Kennedy offered him a ride home...

Re:Thank you

[Surt]

I can't see how someone familiar with the history of the computer industry could think that ... if anything I think the PC would be quite a bit more popular today had MS never existed.

Re:He's not leaving

[mfg]

Bill Gates' tombstone will read

    This man has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down

With MS's track record...

[IW4]

We can expect him to be released around October 2012. Fantastic.

Where's Microsoft Security?

[Anonymous Coward]

They should have walked him out the minute he announced he was leaving.

Re:He's not leaving

[dbitch]

Nah, he'll just have on the blue screen of death. Take that!

Re:Uhhhh...

[glas_gow]

Dude, I think *he* won

He only won in reality. Whereas we won in irony.

Well...

[Poromenos1]

What part(s) of my resume should I brush up when applying for the job of "master villian and arch-nemisis of WonderTorvalds?"

Spelling, probably :P

Re:He's not leaving

[Namlak]

Bill Gates' tombstone will read

You mean his BSOD - Blue (Tomb)Stone of Death

Re:Speaking of monopolies...

[pluther]

...without Gates, "we wouldn't have the Internet."

How dare he try to take credit for Al Gore's work!

Re:he must not be evil, after all

[JourneyExpertApe]

Let's not forget Steve Ballmer's extensive chairity work. Get it? Do ya?

The beauty of capitalism

[ZoneGray]

This is the beauty of capitalism. No matter how rich and powerful you are, you still get fired when you screw up.

He is Batman

[joystickgenie]

Man when I read this I had images of Bruce Wayne and Wayne corp.

He just needs more time for his superhero alter ego.

Re:Holy Sh*t

[Bongo Bill]

but if he was as evil as many slashdotters would like to have it, why wouldn't he keep it all? Or spend the money to build an evil headquarter in an inactive volcano?

Because it's much more evil to build it in an active volcano - and more expensive, too.

Re:Holy Sh*t

[gbobeck]

Now, if they'd just get rid of Ballmer, the company might actually be going places.

If they get rid of Ballmer, the Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers... would be missing a cheerleader. On the plus side, the chairs would be safe.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:He's not leaving

[Anonymous Coward]

June 2008 was the initial plan, but due to some schedule slippage, he will actually be released in 2015.

Re:Holy Sh*t

[Doyle]

Sure, he's still filthy rich despite how much he has given, but if he was as evil as many slashdotters would like to have it, why wouldn't he keep it all? Or spend the money to build an evil headquarter in an inactive volcano?

How do you know he hasn't? I bet he has a receipt for 800 orange boiler suits somewhere too ;)

Re:Holy Sh*t

[Anonymous Coward]

Will you manage to give away 80% of your fortune before you die?
Probably, just not all to good causes.

Re:Holy Sh*t

[Alioth]

Duh. This is Slashdot not Cee Colon Backslash. What did you expect?

Re:Holy Sh*t

[grazzy]

They're after you.. you know.. THEM.