The things that happen when you are travelling and out of touch. While I was on my way home from Atlanta Georgia (really from Kennesaw State University north of Atlanta) Microsoft had a big press announcement that Bill Gates is stepping down over a two year period from day to day management of Microsoft. Ray Ozzie will be taking over as Chief Software Architect. Others will be taking some of Bill's other responsibilities. Bill will stay on as Chairman but be full-time working with his foundation two years from now.

Well I have to say this is great news. It's great for the world and its great for Microsoft. Now 6 months ago I might have felt differently but in January I met Ray Ozzie. hPlus I have talked to a few people who know him well. So why do I think this is a good move for everyone? First off I think it is great that Bill is going to take his thinking and apply it more to his charity. I think that this will step up the rate of spending that the foundation and that alone will be a good thing. Right now the Gates Foundation pays for something like 90% of the funding on finishing whiping out polio, about half of the malaria research funding, and some other big chunks of medical research. I would like to see Bill spend more of his time on education reform. I might even write a proposal there myself in a year or two. But in summary I think that Bill having more time to spend thinking about and supporting more medical and educational research is a great thing.

The worry people might have about Microsoft is who will do the technical thinking. Several times Bill Gates has moved the company on technology on his own. The move to the Internet still being the most famous example. Ray Ozzie is that sort of deep technical thinker and thought leader. Plus to be honest I like the man. Now I don't really know him and you can't say you know someone from one meeting but sometimes you just get a feeling about someone. I liked him right away. And I think that a more mature Microsoft needs a different sort of personality to lead it technically. Ray is that sort of person. His style seems much different from Bill's. I also think that as capable as Bill is we can get a lot of value from someone with a different background and perspective on software. That is something else that Ray brings to the table. So this is a great move for the company I think.