Is Bill Gates' Return Good for Microsoft and Good for You?

The big news in tech yesterday was Microsoft naming Satya Nadella as its new CEO. Along with that was also the reveal that Bill Gates will be stepping down as chairman and taking on a new, more active role at Microsoft as Technology Advisor.

Bill Gates will be more involved in the direction of Microsoft, which in itself is just as interesting as the new leadership from Nadella. Gates said that it was Nadella who requested that he step up to assume a greater role. That could be Nadella's first major decision as the new Microsoft CEO, but was it a good call?

Gates is one of the founders of Microsoft, and his new role is focused on next-generation products. This could be exactly what Microsoft needs to bring back innovation. One could argue that this is the most vital thing Microsoft needs, and Gates should actually take the reigns on steering the entire company in the direction of making innovative products. Of course, two heads are often better than one, so Gates looking after products while Nadella focuses on the new frontiers in cloud and mobile could be the one-two punch to success.

On the other hand, Gates has been out of the business for a long time, and much has changed in the 14 years since he was Microsoft's CEO. Maybe what Microsoft really needs is a fresh start; Satya Nadella's engineering background and business experience could be the right mix. Someone with a bold agenda doesn't need the old guard looking over his shoulder.

Furthermore, Gates has moved on to what many would say are bigger and better things. His work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is making the world a better place. While better technology can also improve lives, the Foundation is having a direct positive impact where many people need help today.

What do you think of Bill Gates' return to Microsoft? Will he bring glory, or will he be a distraction? Vote in our poll and also sound off in the comments below!

Follow Marcus Yam @MarcusYam. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.

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40 Comments Comment from the forums

vancedecker

Wow, even in death, he can't help himself from trying to be like Steve and trying to pull off some osrt of miracle corporate comeback. I mean what gives? Did he run out of children who need help in Africa? I don't get it. Also, Gates is either sadly out of touch with the real world, or simply an intentional liar. He had the nerve to testify before congress that the United States does not have enough qualified technical professionals and therefore we must increase our H1B VISA quotas.This is not even remotely believable. We have plenty of skilled talent sitting unemployed. Perhaps if he located his offices closer to civilization his company would have an easier time recruiting.How can someone so delusional and/or dishonest about reality, turn around a decaying corpse of a company? Aside from X-Box, what innovations have they produced in recent times? Microsoft's days are numbered, Bill or no Bill.
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littleleo

I hope its not more of the same which lead us to the horrible products like Windows 8 and Office 2013, and Office 365.
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ferooxidan

Office 2013 is great, well for Microsoft Project 2013 i mean. The new Reports feature is better than the previous and bring it to almost the same level as P6. Windows 8 is a killer, its performance is. The only failure is their Live Tile and Metro UI, for most people that is. For me, I'm fine with that.
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SteelCity1981

Gates is good for the company as long as he isn't the one that's in charge of new ideas outside OSes. Zune was a bad marketing mistake and it clearly showed that Gates was out of his comfort zone, with anything beyond software products. This is where Nadella comes in and where Gates should be left out. What Gates needs to really focus on is the software side of Microsoft. Fixing Windows is a start.
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JD88

Gates was never really an innovator. His presence is only necessary because Nadella needs Gates' clout in order to keep others within the company from dragging their feet on changes being made. Microsoft's corporate culture is all about politics and games.
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sirskeetsalot2013

Nothing is needed to fix windows 8, runs fast, and is way more secure than 7. But give you crybabies your option for the old fashion thing I never use the start menu. I've used hotkeys to get around my OS since XP. And always had the taskbar on auto-hide to not see that garbage on my screen. And if something is that important and I need it on my taskbar, I create a folder in my documents, and paste shortcuts of most used programs, and add a custom toolbar to my taskbar. Problem solved.
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clownbaby

Unless his first actions are to stop charging $100-200 per license for an operating system lost in time, realize that their market share is about to tank, and start acting more like Google (innovating for the benefit of the consumer and getting paid on the back end), Microsoft will be but a dot in the history of computing.Their business practices are beyond antiquated. Their operating system is overly complicated in many ways, and too simplistic in others (Metro Interface (and pretentious...what a stupid name)).Their current goal is to FORCE customers to continue using their products rather than creating products consumers will choose to use. Without their built in market share, Microsoft would disappear in a very short amount of time. As soon as Google (or anyone else for that matter) matures an operation system with enough of a software base, I will say goodbye to Windows forever. Good luck Bill. My advice: Go work for a company that isn't completely ruined. The Microsoft culture is a dead end.
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Thorfkin

Too many large companies today are run by entirely business minded people but who have no real passion for good products. Gates is one of those people who has business acumen but also knows what PC users want. I hope he's able to steer the Windows division back to where it should be. Based on the rumors it seems Microsoft really is trying to clean up after Windows 8's disaster. Hopefully Bill will keep them heading in the right direction.
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JD88

12616521 said:
Unless his first actions are to stop charging $100-200 per license for an operating system lost in time, realize that their market share is about to tank, and start acting more like Google (innovating for the benefit of the consumer and getting paid on the back end), Microsoft will be but a dot in the history of computing.Their business practices are beyond antiquated. Their operating system is overly complicated in many ways, and too simplistic in others (Metro Interface (and pretentious...what a stupid name)).Their current goal is to FORCE customers to continue using their products rather than creating products consumers will choose to use. Without their built in market share, Microsoft would disappear in a very short amount of time. As soon as Google (or anyone else for that matter) matures an operation system with enough of a software base, I will say goodbye to Windows forever. Good luck Bill. My advice: Go work for a company that isn't completely ruined. The Microsoft culture is a dead end.

Very good analysis. Microsoft's culture has always been one of entitlement since they have had no competition until recently.
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jurassic512

This site has the worst navigation I have ever seen. It's buggy and annoying. Just trying to use spellcheck on a word in this box doesn't always work. And scrolling after you click on an article to see the next one is stupid. I'm on a PC, not a damn phone!
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