p2pnet news | Products:- Goodbye Bill Gates.

Today is the day he hands control of the multi-, multi-billion dollar company he helped to found 33 years ago to Steve ‘I’m going to fucking kill Google‘ Ballmer.

“Gates will remain part-time chairman of the board,” says the Guardian, “But the reign of the one-time boy wonder of the computer world is officially over.”

“In a rare period of inactivity, Gates plans a trip to the Beijing Olympics and will be enjoying a spell of leisure over the summer. Then, he plans to set up an office in Seattle’s Eastside area to delve deeper into the world’s medical, biological and environmental challenges for his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.”

He’ll still be Microsoft’s chairman and largest shareholder, but after today, Ballmer wil be calling the shots.

“For millions of users, mobile devices like cellphones are beginning to edge out PCs as the tool of choice for many computing tasks,” says the New York Times, going on:

“And Google, the front-runner in the current wave of Internet computing, has wrested the mantle of high-tech leadership from Microsoft.

“Although Mr. Gates will spend one day a week at the company, it will be up to his successors, led by Steven A. Ballmer, the chief executive, to master the challenges of the Internet or watch Microsoft’s wealth and stature in the industry steadily erode.

Windows and Office is “Bill’s legacy,” the Harvard Business School’s David B. Yoffie says in the story, “but it’s not the future.”

So what does lie ahead under Ballmer?

The Wall Street Journal has a memo from Steve Ballmer in which he lays out some of his plans for the company, says 24/7 Wall Street, going on he’ll, “more carefully monitor the launch of Windows 7, which will eventually replace the doomed Vista OS”.

Next, he’ll, “set up a structure which allows the operating groups within the company to work more closely together”.

Third, “he wants to build out a consumer electronics group. As the paper writes, ‘He now is pushing to more aggressively attack the consumer market and compete with Apple’s hit iPhone’.”

Finally, “he wants to ramp up his internet group and search business.”

Adds the story >>>

Ballmer does have a shot at the consumer electronics business, but it is a long one. The Xbox has been a huge success. The Zune multimedia player has been a tremendous failure. Competing with the iPhone is a dream, but not one that will come true.

Search is also a long shot. If Ballmer can pull that off without the Yahoo! deal, it will be a miracle.

The hopes for Windows 7 are the most important hopes, and they are real and realistic. Microsoft has certainly learned from Vista. The product before it, XP, is a fine map for what Windows 7 could be. The OS is where Microsoft makes its money. It should stick to the knitting.

Meanwhile, “the business world hasn’t quite seen the last of Gates,” says the Guardian.

“He has put money into in a start-up called Intellectual Ventures which is developing a ‘clean’ type of nuclear reactor which would use fuels other than enriched uranium.

“For future investments, he says he is only interested in ‘dramatic’ scientific breakthroughs which would tie in with his broader philanthropic approach of ‘improving the state of mankind’.”

. .Stumble It!

Guardian - Bill Gates logs off today, June 27, 2008
New York Times - Microsoft Seeks Path Beyond the Gates Legacy, June 27, 2008
24/7 Wall Street - Ballmer’s Big Plan, June 27, 2008

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 5:14 am and is filed under Product News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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