Bill Gates’ retirement from Microsoft – One year on…

It’s been a whole year since Bill Gates retired from the day-to-day running of Microsoft. After an extensive six months farewell tour, he handed the reins of the company over to Steve Ballmer at a town hall meeting in Redmond on June 27, 2008. Although Gates is still the part-time non-executive chairman, Microsoft has essentially been going for a year without him in charge. So, how are things going?

The recession has bit heavily and deeply in the year since Gates’ departure. This has forced Microsoft’s hand somewhat in the way it has conducted business. There have been large employee layoffs, the canceling of non-essential staff perks, and the culling of several products. But Microsoft has also grown in some areas.

This year has seen the launch of Bing, Microsoft’s new search/decision engine. Bing may not currently be a Google-beater but it’s without a doubt the best search product Microsoft has ever released. The Yahoo! deal may never have happened but Microsoft took it on the chin and went back to the drawing board.

Also on the way is Microsoft Security Essentials, the free security suite Microsoft should arguably have been offering for years already. Then there is the Zune HD, which could and should perform better than the original, and Project Natal, the Xbox 360 add-on which, once released, will enable gamers to play using just hand gestures.

Lest we forget Windows 7, due for release on Oct. 22. When Gates left his long-held position, Windows 7 was still a long way from complete and yet to be tested on the public. In fact, the failure of Vista was still what most people were thinking when they heard the name of Microsoft spoken out loud. Now, after positive response from analysts and the public alike, the company can look forward rather than back.

Would all these things, both good and bad, happened if Gates has stayed in his job? Steve Ballmer is certainly a very different kind of leader, but like Gates seems to know his own mind and refuses to be swayed off course. He’s also sanctioned a direct attack on Apple in those ‘Laptop Hunters’ ads, which he should be applauded for.

I would suggest Microsoft is in a better state now than it was a year ago. While I’m not suggesting Gates’ departure had much to do with that upturn in fortunes, his retirement certainly hasn’t hurt the company in the way some people predicted it would.

• Bill Gates says Windows 7 replacing Vista next year
• Bill Gates sees end of ‘device categories’ as PCs, phones merge
• Gates reveals Vista is far less popular than Microsoft would like
• Microsoft says Gates misspoke about Windows 7, still slated for 2010
• Microsoft posts first year-over-year revenue decline ever