Actually, he’s not officially with Microsoft anymore after stepping down as CEO in 2008, even making the surprisingly entertaining video below (I purposely chose this version with the less-than-stellar audio so you could hear the audience reaction).

Even so, he is still the chairman and on the board of directors, but some of the top shareholders are asking, now that Microsoft co-founder and current CEO Steve Ballmer has announced his own retirement, that Bill Gates step down fully as well. They feel that Microsoft is too far behind its competitors in the expanding mobile space, and with Bill Gates and Ballmer in the position to essentially voir dire any potential successor that my want to head Microsoft down a different path, they need to be out completely.

I suspect this won’t happen, and I’m torn on the issue either way. Apple just isn’t the same company without Steve Jobs, and I’m a big fan of Microsoft, they gave us standards that allowed computing and technology to expand into the global driving powerhouse it is today, but I also see the need for flexibility in thought and the ability to take risks and expand into new markets. Of course, when they’ve done that in the past, they didn’t have the marketing to back it up. Remember Zune?