It’s official: Microsoft’s top-geek-made-good, Bill Gates, is leaving his full-time position as head of Microsoft on Friday. Now that he’s made more money than regular mortals can even fathom (aside from those congresspeople who approve the defense budget), he’s stepping down in order to focus on his philanthropic work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Microsoft has given itself less than eight years to find another billion PC users. To help meet that goal, the company has pledged to sell $3 bundles of Windows XP and Office software to governments that provide schools with free computers. That’s about 2 percent of the cost of Office alone.