I first encountered Microsoft in terms of buying their products in about 1981. I bought a game for my Apple II- Adventure (aka “Colossal Cave”, the original Crowther and Woods text based adventure) from them. I followed Bill Gates’ career from about that time, and always felt like, in a weird way, he and I were twins separated at birth… even though he’s older than me and I’m far, far sexier.

In about 1990, I had a beer (several, actually- I think it was a post-training course social thing) with a fellow in Seattle who told me I looked just like Bill. He then proceeded to tell me how his family used to have a summer cottage near the Gates’ clan when Bill was a kid. He described summers sharing BBQs and swimming with the Gates’ family, and turning down a job offer from Bill in the early 1980’s. My momentary pride at being described as “like Bill Gates” was quashed when the guy described the young Bill Gates as a pain in the neck smartass geek, and how he once nearly drowned Bill while swimming because he was so irritating.

In later life, I realized that the “pain in the neck smartass” was a lot more like me than I was probably willing to admit.

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It’s really not news that Bill Gates is stepping down from his role at Microsoft. I recall him saying pretty clearly five or six years ago that he planned on removing himself from his position within the company before he was 55, and spending an increasing amount of time in his philanthropist role within the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

That said, it is something of an end of an era. Bill and I sort of “grew up” together in a philosophical sense. One of the first computers I played with was an Altair 8800- Bill and Paul Allen both worked briefly for MITS, the company that made the Altair, and formed “Micro-Soft” at that time. I bought my first computer in 1980, when Microsoft was still had fewer than 30 people on staff and was generating less than $3 million a year in revenues. I remember reading about Bill Gates at around that time- he was still in his early 20’s, and not yet a “superstar”, and I figured he was doing exactly what I wanted to do: write code and get rich

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think of Bill Gates as some sort of technology god. He possesses any number of flaws, from his storied arrogance and overwhelming (some would say crushing) drive to his dandruff. But Bill has been my stand-in in a world of former football-jock CEOs possessing Yale and Harvard MBAs and about as much technical know-how as an ice cube. He proved that someone who really knew things, a technologist not a jock or cocktail sipping blueblood, could “win”. That brains could win out over smooth charm, fine manicures, and tailored suits. My personal “revenge of the Nerds” icon.

So, here we are, 26 years later. Bill is 50, so him stepping down is right on track for his plans. Ray Ozzie is another one of my technology “idols”, and he is taking on much of Bill’s technical leadership roll within Microsoft. But for me, Bill Gates will always signify my “youth” and growth in the technology field. Thanks, Bill- and best of luck to you in your increasing role within the Foundation.

Microsoft is giving clearer and clearer signs that they really “get” the frustration and pain their complex and sometimes buggy software causes.  Their error reporting features within Windows XP have allowed Microsoft to reduce system problems significantly.  But what’s next?

If you believe this video, produced by Microsoft’s IT services group, then the next step is WE-SYP (We Share Your Pain). 

If truth be told, I take as much comfort from the fact that the Microsoft folks made this video, showing that they have a real sense of humour, as I do from any next generation error reporting/debugging solution.  Playfulness is important, arguably critical, to innovative thinking- and folks who don’t get that probably shouldn’t be working with computer software or any other creative endeavor.

Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal penned an article the other day about how the Personal Computer era may be ending, to be replaced by … I’m not really sure, I guess he’s saying purpose built devices for particular purposes. Actually, the way I read his article, I think he’s saying that the “component build” model appears to be a poor one to use for things like iPods, but the technology media seems to have picked up on this being someone yet again predicting the end of the personal computer.

I’m pretty sure that Mr. Mossberg didn’t actually intend to predict the end of the personal computer. That’s been done so many times before its almost laughable. Network Computers were hyped and died in the mid ’90s. We’ve had several generations of game consoles that were supposed to kill the personal computer. And now ubiquitous devices like iPods and web browser/camera/music player/pda/cell phones are going will be the death nell that removes that machine from under your desk.

Bill Gates has responded to this kind of thing before, and apparently he’s written a letter to the WSJ for this one (although I’m not a WSJ subscriber, so I can’t read it). To be honest, Bill, you are wasting your time.

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I mentioned a day or so ago that Vanguard is no longer going to be published by Microsoft. The reaction on the official Vanguard forums has been somewhat over-the-top, to put it mildly.

I noticed today that Sigil has assembled a FAQ page about the restructuring. It seems to me to answer most of the questions- although I imagine there are a lot of Vanguard fanatics / Sony haters who won’t like the answers.