The passing of a historic milestone…

Most of the news you heard today was about gas prices, wars, and the stock market.  But an historic milestone occurred today in the tech industry.  Bill Gates, found and Chief Architech, resigned his tenure of the helm of one of the most prolific software companies ever.  Bill has finally stepped down from leading Microsoft for over 30 years and his last ‘official’ day as a Microsoft employee will be June 30.

While I have been a Mac fan for some time now, I cannot deny the impact this little start-up has had on my life.  For me it began almost (and I hate to this now that I know the number) 20 years ago with my Northgate 486DX33 computer.  At the time this was THE machine to own: 33 Mhz processor, 8MB of RAM, a 1MB video card, and a 20MB hard drive.  This machine was so good, I had to bring it into the Engineering Lab to run some of the simulation software for a senior design class for graduation.  Nothing in our computer lab at the time could run it. 

From that point I’ve been hooked playing, working, and creating with these silicon marvels.  I’ve seen the passing of DOS, extended memory, 16 bit kernel, 8 bit color, 8.3 file naming, and soon the passing Windows XP (and in my opinion the best OS they’ve made to date).  June 30 is also the last day Windows XP is available for general purchase by the public.  It seems almost cosmic that the same day Bill ends his run at Microsoft that Microsoft ends its run with Windows XP. 

Well… I do have to say my hat’s off to Bill and all the wonderful work he has done in and outside the halls at Redmond.  His focus will now be on the work of the Gates Foundation and the wonderful they’ve started.  Good luck Bill!