Some of you may have noticed that Bill Gates is hanging up his Microsoft Professional Developer’s Conference 1998 briefcase for good today.

The imminent departure of the Microsoft co-founder has prompted acres of coverage about the future direction of Microsoft now that the no-longer-the richest man in the world is no longer at the helm.

At the same time, the NGO sector is all aquiver at the prospect of Bill going full time on the important business of spending his billions on his favourite philanthropic projects. What will it be first? Malaria? Polio? Perhaps he'll set himself a really tough challenge, like tackling the appalling state of numeracy right here in the UK.

Here at Reg Central we’ve trawled the archives to throw light on the future, now that Bill is personally in charge of the world’s biggest charity collection tin.

So just put up your feet, click here, and cast your mind back to what was, for some of us, a more innocent age. ®

57 comments posted — Comment period finished