Gates without Microsoft

Yesterday was Bill Gates’ last day at Microsoft as a full time employee. A lot has been said and is being said all over the world about Gates, Microsoft, the impact the two have had on the world over the last 30 years and what lies ahead for both over the next few years. A couple of those that I really found interesting were this article on BBC featuring the original Microsoft employees, who got together to recreate that famous photogaph, and this one on CNN featuring some rare photos from Microsoft archives, accompanied with a commentary by Gates himself. And, of course, there is a whole lot of stuff over at Engadget, who declared June 27 to be the Bill Gates Day.

Will Microsoft survive without Gates? And Gates without Microsoft? If Microsoft is not doing too well a few years from now, will he be tempted to jump back in and take control? It’s certainly happened before.. Steve Jobs and Michael Dell are two names that come to mind, there are probably others that I’m forgetting. Of course, only time can tell..