Bill Gates You Have a Retirement E-Card from Gizmodo

Well, the time has come. It's 6 p.m., and according to the Bill Gates' retirement video, this is the exact moment Bill is leaving from his last day of work. With this monumental occasion, we thought it was only fitting we send him off with an MSN e-card. Feel free to give your best wishes to Bill in the comments. [Bill Gates' Retirement Party on Giz]

Things No One Gives Microsoft Credit For (But Should)

Microsoft gets more crap than any other company in tech. That's partly because it's given us garbage like Clippy, Microsoft BOB and Windows Vista. And it's partly because it's arguably the most important company in personal computing. Sure, Apple gets all the fawning press for designing pretty, easy-to-use gadgets. But Microsoft is rarely credited for being why mainstream tech has come this far—a computer on every desk, the explosion of the internet, even the idea of a common UI across applications. Even smarmy Mac and Linux snobs have a lot to thank Microsoft for, even if they don't want to. More »

Men's Vogue on Bill Gates's Style: "A Fashionable Guy"

What would you wear every day if you could wear anything? We're talking no limits, not from bank accounts or corporate wardrobe requirements, not those snarky writers from US Weekly or the sexy lady judging the size of your 401k by the validity of your Rolex. More »

Retromodo: Gizmodo's Bill Gates Interviews Through History

Bill Gates puts up with us, having granted us three interviews in the past three and a half years. It's an intense experience: Bill isn't always fond of making eye contact, and is known to snap at reporters who ask dumb questions. After all, he's not just the Andrew Carnegie—or Emperor Palpatine—of his time. He's also a guy who gets interviewed a hell of a lot, and doesn't stand for bush-league Q&A. But we have always enjoyed the guys company and even have had the opportunity to make him laugh a few times. Here's a quick look back at our three Bill interviews, in a Retromodo re-run fashion: More »

Retromodo: Bill Gates, Panhandlers and Hamburglers On 60 Minutes

One of the best Bill Gates interview clips to float the web in the last few years is this one where Bill tells us how easy school was while chowing down on burgers at his favorite fast food joint. At the end, some homeless guy knocks on the window and asks if he can spare any change.

Book Review: Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post Gates Era

What does someone who's been covering Microsoft for 25 years think about Bill Gates' retirement? Ask Mary Jo Foley, or consider her book, Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post Gates Era. I read and I found it to be somewhat encyclopedic in its breadth and knowledge of the inner workings of Microsoft, every page chock-full of historical context and deep knowledge and liberal use of external sources. It's all especially impressive since Microsoft PR decided against officially supporting Gates-transition stories. And she plays neither fault-blind sympathizer nor superficially informed critic; her work is pitch perfect, calling out the obscene and yet recommending doubters not count out Microsoft as Bill leaves. More »

Ten Reasons Why Vista Isn't That Bad

Of all the ware Microsoft churns out from its sweatshop of "lightning bolt, lightning bolt" nerds, Windows is the one most inexorably tied to the public image of the company. As Bill Gates leaves the building, we look back on the last baby birthed—if not fully gestated—under his watch, the swan song operating system that he himself has issues with. Although we agree that Vista could have used a bit more time shoved back into the silicon womb for some feature buffing and bug fixing, it's not nearly as bad as most people are making it out to be. That's right, I'm actually happy with Windows Vista, which I use about one-third of the time I spend at a computer. More »

Bill Gates' Made Men: The Wild 'n' Crazy Ventures of the Microsoft Millionaires

Creating an organization bent on world domination takes more than just a maniacal leader with a high, cackling voice. It takes underlings. Henchmen, if you will. But these are no Bond villains. Bill Gates rewarded his geniuses with stock, just as they rewarded him with their hard work and ingenuity—and they wound up very rich. Over 10,000 Microsoft minions have become millionaires through the company's runaway success over the past three decades, and more than a few have dedicated themselves to the kinds of causes and business ventures that only the super-well-heeled can afford. Here are some of Bill's Made Men (and Women). More »

Why I Still Use Windows Despite the Peer Pressure

There are over a dozen people working at our fair Gizmodo, but as a Windows user, I'm in a definite minority. I still rock XP, and I'm pretty happy with that. Why haven't I switched to Macs? Plenty of reasons, not least of which being that I'm just too smart to switch to a Mac. That's right, I'm too smart for Macs. As Bill Gates's retirement rapidly approaches I figured now is a good time to lay out why I'm loyal to his OS. More »

Giz Explains: How the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Will Save the World

Bill Gates is officially "transitioning" from Microsoft this week, but really, he checked out a long time ago. His Big Hairy Vision isn't just modernizing the world anymore—it's saving it. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the world's largest charitable foundation, with a current asset trust endowment of $37.3 billion. Last year, it gave away $2 billion. Its work is divided into three major programs: Global Development, Global Health and United States. It's not your average charity though—and not just because two of its three trustees, Bill and Warren (no last names needed) constantly jockey for the title of world's richest man. It's the smartest. And that's why it just might succeed. More »

The Best Bill Gates Parodies Ever

So what does Bill Gates really have to show for his years of hard work? Sure he built a software empire, and yeah he has been known as the richest man alive. But those things aren't as cool as being immortalized on film and in song. Maybe. Either way, he's been cartooned, acted, clayed, and even sung about. So with Bill's retirement only days away, we thought it was only fitting we gave you a mash-up of all these green sweater, glasses wearin' characters. More »

Bill Gates is Going to Have One F'ed Up Retirement

Last week, I asked you to create visions of Bill Gates in retirement. You responded. As per usual, the easiest joke had the most entries (this time, it was Bill Gates working at the Apple Store/at the Genius Bar), many of which were left on the cutting room floor. However, there are a pretty serious number of flat-out insane and hilarious entries that are sure to tarnish the name and legacy of poor Billy G. Sorry, Bill. After the jump, check out the top three winners and then view the rest of the winners in our Gallery of Champions. More »

A Night With Bill Gates' New Big Hairy Vision

Bill Gates wrinkled his nose at me. "You just squished your question." More »

Bill Gates Retirement Party

The time has come. On June 27th, Bill Gates will stop commuting to Microsoft's Redmond campus on a daily basis, and begin full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. You probably know that for Bill, retirement doesn't mean what it meant for your dear old granddad. He will still visit his Redmond office once per week, doing what Ballmer tells him to do. Nevertheless, it's the furthest Bill will ever separate himself from the software biz while he's living on this planet, so it's something to commemorate, for better or worse. More »

If Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were on Match.com: Who is Sexiest?

Up until a few years ago, any lengthy feature on Bill Gates usually elicited a fair amount of words on the Gates-Jobs rivalry. The two tech behemoths were always pitted head-to-head, with the writer pulling together some conclusion on how the soon-retiring Microsoftie was the better businessman, while iMan had a clearer vision of how technology could be both beautiful and functional. But of all the profiles I have read during my exhaustive research of this feature, not one of them mentioned what is without doubt the most important bit to me: sexiness. Before Gates leaves Microsoft full time in little more than a week, we should do one more comparo of the two and explore who is hotter-to-trot. Is it Ladies Love Cool Jobs for the cutie from Cupertino, or does the Redmond romeo just shade it? More »