Bill Gates bids teary farewell to Microsoft

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates bid farewell to Microsoft on Friday, resigning from his full-time post as chairman of the software giant.

At a town hall meeting in Redmond, Washington, more than 800 Microsoft employees gathered to send Gates off into the new era of his life.

Chairman of Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates testifies at the House Science and Technology Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC in this March 12, 2008 file photo. Gates is retiring from Microsoft on June 27, 2008, but will remain the company's non-executive chairman.

Accompanied by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Gates walked in smiling to a standing ovation, and introduced his wife, Melinda, and his children in the audience.

"There won't be a day in my life that I'm not thinking about Microsoft and the great things that it's doing and wanting to help," teary-eyed Gates told the farewell event.

After decades devoted to Microsoft, Gates plans to turn his fulltime attention to the philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation he established with his wife.

The Gates couple, whose fortune was estimated at 58 billion dollars, mainly Microsoft stock, has pledged to donate almost all their fortune to the now 40-billion-dollar foundation.

Chairman of Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates testifies on competitiveness in the global marketplace as it relates to technology to the House Science and Technology Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington March 12, 2008.

Gates leaves Microsoft at a time when the company is wrestling with a fast-changing computer era and growing challenges from Internet juggernaut Google and longtime rival Apple, makers of Macintosh computers.

Gates acknowledged that it will not be easy to move on, given how natural it became for him to work at the company over the past three decades.

Referring to being asked how he could leave when Microsoft is faced with such huge challenges, he said: "Well, there's always intense competition. I think the company is stronger today than it's ever been."

"That's very clear to me. The depth of IQ in this company is phenomenal. Now, we don't always get it to add up. We get a tiny bit of subtraction sometimes, and that's one of our challenges," said Gates, who remains the firm's single largest shareholder.

Asked about his biggest mistake, Gates said the key thing in software is to accurately anticipate new bends in the road.

Microsoft is ahead of the curve in areas like graphical user interface, he said, while acknowledging that it has lagged behind in other areas, such as Internet search and advertising.

"When we miss a big change and we don't get great people on it, that is the most dangerous thing for us," Gates said. "It's happened many times. It's OK, but the less the better."

"Search is the place where people probably really think, will Microsoft ever do anything there? We'll be the very best," he said. "That is in full motion."

He reminded employees that the company could leap from behind as well as lead.

Gates said he thought it was still right for the company to focus on software.

"We have so many opportunities to surprise people."

Turning to Microsoft's growth, Gates said the idea is not to be big, but to be lean and agile, while still in a position to tackle tough challenges.

"I don't think we'll double (in size) again, but you know, I've been wrong before."

Gates, who will remain Microsoft's non-executive chairman on a part-time basis, said he would still take on Microsoft projects picked by Ballmer and two other executives who have assumed most of his day-to-day tasks -- Craig Mundie and Ray Ozzie.

"I do think with my not being here full time there is some opportunity that people will really step up. There's somewhat of a vacuum created there," he said.

"I have got to get out of the way, and let that new thing step in there."

The employees rose to their feet when Ballmer presented the departing chairman with a large scrapbook embossed with Gates' signature.

"We've been given an enormous, enormous opportunity. And Bill gave us that opportunity," Ballmer said. "I want to thank Bill for that."

Besides Ballmer acting as chief executive officer of the firm, Craig Mundie will inherit Gates' chief research and strategy officer duties and Ray Ozzie will handle the former head's job as chief software architect.