The founder of Microsoft is stepping down today. That’s right- Bill Gates is retiring from Microsoft. According to Gates, he going to use his newly accquired “free time” to peruse his philanthropic interests. Love him or hate him, he completely revolutionized computing with his products. From DOS to Windows and from QuickBasic to Visual Studio, he’ll leave a lasting footprint on almost any computer in the world.

To commemorate the event, we’ve got a few links celebrating the big man’s leave of absence. Here’s a video from Wired, mashing up his greatest hits. And to show he has a sense of humor, here’s a video spoof starring the man himself, making fun of his last day in Microsoft.

Now that Bill Gates has officially “left the building,” who will step in to take his place? And in what direction will he or she steer Microsoft?  ZDNet does some quick speculation, and tells us that two people will replace Bill Gates- Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundy. As of yet it is uncertain as to the future of Microsoft, but lets hope things get better with time.

Of course, one of the biggest thorn’s in Microsoft’s side the last few years has been the free Operating System, Linux. Ubuntu has been making great strides, taking a once archiac and unfriendly architecture and making it sing. There is even a video comparing Vista and Linux, with the special effects of both taking center stage.

Just because Bill Gates is going away doesn’t mean that Microsoft will stop being a player in the tech sector. We’ve talked about Powerset off and on here at the Freeline. It’s the next big thing in search engines, allowing for an almost natural language search. Some people are even speculating that it might topple Google, once it works out all the kinks. It looks like Microsoft has been paying attention to all the buzz as well - Redmond has officially bought up Powerset. Many analysts predict that Microsoft will use the new technology to compete against Google. The deal should be completed by the end of the year.

Well, that’s it for today. So long Bill Gates, and good luck in the future!