Bill Gates' Run
News Commentary. Last Day. And there is no escape. It's renewal at Cathedral or run for Sanctuary. |
In 1976 sci-fi classic "Logan's Run," 30 is as old as people live. When the clock crystal in the palm flashes red, it's Last Day. Time to check out, willingly or running from killer Sandmen.
Today is Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' last day as a full-time employee. He has just a couple hours left. Blogs and news sites are full of bull Bill this week, as they commemorate the man and the so-called "magic of software."
But Bill isn't going easily. That crystal has been flashing in his palm since Microsoft announced the retirement two summers ago. He's clinging to life, eh, Microsoft. He's sure to be renewed at Cathedral and return as a philanthropist, somebody who could do some real good in the world. But will he really renew or run? Because it's hard to imagine Bill letting go of Microsoft so easily.
Sandmen chase runners. Runners search for Sanctuary. Sandmen typically work in pairs, and hunt down and mercilessly shoot runners.
It's easy enough to imagine Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer chasing after Bill runner maniacally yelling, "Developers! Developers! Developer!" Maybe Microsoft COO Kevin Turner would join in.
Perhaps better: Apple CEO Steve Jobs and marketing chief Phil Schiller as sandmen. It's hard to imagine Phil being all that threatening, but this is fiction after all.
There are perhaps better killer sandmen, such as RealNetworks' CEO Rob Glaser, who has publicly criticized Microsoft and Bill Gates for years. Sun Chairman Scott McNealy would make a good companion. Surely, neither man would like Bill to renew.
Whether Bill Gates renews or runs, it's Last Day. He's gone. The question to ask: What does his departure mean for Mac users? Not much, I say.
Since the retirement announcement two years ago, Microsoft's Mac commitment hugely increased after years of stagnation. Microsoft supports the Mac now better than ever. It would be unfair, methinks, to peg the change solely on Bill—after all, Mac sales have boomed over the last 18 to 24 months, from which Microsoft can sell more software.
Mac support is most impressive in the last six to 12 months:
- Office 2008 is simply the best Mac productivity suite ever, and I'd rate it as being much better than Windows counterpart Office 2007. Microsoft also is delivering more Office updates more frequently.
- Microsoft released a Silverlight run-time for the Mac. Silverlight brings Windows Media Video back to the Mac and as-good-as or better-than viewing experience as Adobe Flash.
- Microsoft Messenger 7.0.1 may not equal its Windows Live Messenger counterpart and it lacks video capabilities, but there are a couple Mac-specific features that set apart the software from the Windows version. Microsoft also appears to have accelerated Messenger development. Updates are more frequent (one yesterday).
- Promised, but not yet delivered: Live Mesh support. Like Silverlight, Live Mesh, which is in limited testing, will be available for the Mac. Two years ago, Microsoft wouldn't have supported its rival platform.
Microsoft is changing, and that's good for Mac users. But those changes started even before Last Day. I see them as a process, like Bill's departure, and probably somewhat related.
Steve Jobs already had his Last Day, when ousted from Apple in 1985. He renewed and returned almost a dozen years later. Apple's CEO has had the spotlight since in a way Bill could dream of but never achieve. While Bill Gates championed low-cost computing—and not always the most reliable—Steve Jobs marched a campaign of good taste.
This week, Bill finally got his time in the spotlight—and in recognition of his achievements. That has got to make Last Day harder and the desire to run greater still. But if he renews, maybe his post-Microsoft legacy will be greater: using his billions for the good of humanity. Sorry, Steve, what do those starving or dying from disease care about good taste in technology product design?
On reconsideration, Last Day does mean something to long-time Mac loyalists, those people who stuck with Apple during the five or six years before Steve's return. They will lose a great nemesis. For years, Bill Gates has been their enemy. Mr. Bad Taste incarnate. This is their Last Day, too—to despise and ridicule their nemesis.
But that's OK. They've still got Windows Vista to laugh at and to scorn. For Mac OS X Leopard, what could be better than bad Vista?
