Microsoft Corp. is beset with competition from all sides, unlike any it has seen in decades, and Bill Gates, who co-founded the company 32 years ago, still intends to step away next year as planned.

But so far, Gates, Microsoft’s 51-year-old chairman, shows no sign of fading away. One year into a planned two-year transition, there are few visible cues that he is ready to leave the world’s technology stage to devote his energies principally to the $ 33 billion foundation he established seven years ago with his wife. Full article

Steven A. Ballmer had an epic morale problem on his hands. Microsoft Corp.’s stock had been drifting sideways for years, and Google envy was rampant on the Redmond (Wash.) campus. The chronically delayed Windows Vista was irking the Microserfs and blackening their outlook. So was the perception that their company was flabby, middle-aged, and unhip. Full article