Some love him. Some hate him. But no matter what your view on Microsoft’s co-founder, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Bill W. Gates is a man of passion for technology and the business acumen to be able to bring that vision into reality - while fulfilling the goal of a personal computer on every desk and every home.
Being a 6-time Microsoft MVP and a 14 year veteran of Information Technology, this day has made me somewhat reflective of my career and the impact that the Microsoft Corporation has had on it.
You see, today Bill Gates - the Harvard drop out that co-founded the company in 1975 with his friend Paul Allen - will retired from Microsoft to become full-time Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.
I’ve thought about the operating systems, applications and devices that were in use when I began IT career in 1994, and how quickly we’ve advanced as a society as a result of some of Microsoft’s solutions.
I’ve considered what the impact of having a native TCP/IP stack included in Windows 95 did for making the Internet accessible to the masses.
I’ve also considered how Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and Communications Server have made the collaboration and sharing of information easier for companies. \
Thoughts about Windows XP, Vista and now Server 2008 with an embedded hypervisor, have also come into play.
Lastly, and perhaps more dear to my own heart, I’ve given great reflection to the maturity of Microsoft’s security and manageability posture.
When I look back to my first introduction to Microsoft, the year was 1992 and I was learning MS-DOS 2.x and Excel 4.0 (I think) through a local college. It wasn’t long afterwards that I gave up a career in law enforcement to become an IT professional. I can honestly say that I’ve never looked back.
Twelve of those 14 years were spent exclusively on Microsoft technologies.
While I’ve often had to defend Microsoft’s practices as strongly as I have their software, most will agree with me that there has been very few companies - if any - that have had the kind of impact on a worldwide market as Microsoft Corporation.
So, this day, I’d like to personally thank Mr. Gates for his 33 years of hard work, dedication and passion for technology. The company you have built has impacted so many millions and I only wish you the same continued success with the Foundation.
Respectfully,
Duncan McAlynn
PROUD MVP, MCSE and Microsoft Partner!
P.S. Click the following link for Tom Brokaw’s fantastic 25-minute interview of Gates discussing his concluding career at Microsoft and a look back at the years he spent there.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25408326/
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