[Spktyr]

This could be bad - he may be deciding to go into politics...

[HAL9000]

Correction - July 2008 is the date of the change.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Note to self..............short Microsoft : )

[edpc]

He's going to devote his efforts to the Gates Foundation. I can't wait to see how these third world rat holes bilk him out of money. How long until we see a "oil for food" type ripoff?

[old-ager]

Ray Ozzie becoming chief software architect immediately.

[ShadowAce]

[old-ager]

Now I feel *really* old.

[Adam-ondi-Ahman]

I'm at Microsoft, watching Bill giving his speach live on an internal webcast. He's going to work full time for the Gates Foundation. His replacement as Chief Software Architect will start immediately, but he will work with him over the next 2 years.

[Jake The Goose]

Politics? Stock price? - what a shallow group today.

How about a little respect paid to a man who literally has helped change the world.

That's right - changed the world.

This man has been worth billions for years now - and yet he still works 18 hour days, 365 days a week, gives away hundreds of millions of dollars.

Who cares what his politics are - this man has been a credit to the USA, free market minded people, and needy people.

God bless you Bill Gates - and good luck to you.

[HAL9000]

Ballmer looks scared.

[Old Professer]

He's said he's going to dedicate his life to global health and eductation; I feel safer and better already, after all, the only reason it hasn't worked before is because all the wrong people tried it and were under-capitalized.

Goodbye, Ambien, hello Viagra!

[Cyclopean Squid]

Go enjoy your billions, Bill.

[theDentist]

I thought he'd already done that.

[Echo Talon]

I think its a good idea, the people under him(that probably know more) will be in charge.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Another way of saying "I'm retiring"

[HAL9000]

Microsoft press release - Microsoft Announces Plans for July 2008 Transition for Bill Gates

[Live and let live conservative]

One of the greatest Americans of his time, Gates saw opportunity and plunged headlong into hard work. Neither Gates nor his company ever requested any assistance from the government (unlike Apple, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle for instance) and on his own made himself the richest man in the world on nothing but purely voluntary transactions.

Plenty on Free Republic hate his company, products, and some even the man himself, but they are irrelevant. The man is a monumental hero to those who assign that title to those who truly deserve it.

If anyone alive has earned a permanent vacation, it is Bill Gates.

[mgstarr]

Gotta put a shameless plug in here for Steve Jobs. Far from retiring from day-to-day operations, his role at Apple is only growing. Head-to-head there's no contest between Jobs and Gates. The terms "Nerd" and "Geek" fit in here, just not sure how... ;-)

[ChadGore]

Now the Open Source Community will know how we felt when we got Saddam and Zarkowi.

[Tribune7]

So Vista is going to be the disaster most suspect.