TechnologyGates Retirement Latest Challenge for MicrosoftGates Retirement Latest Challenge for MicrosoftThe Associated PressAs Bill Gates ends his full-time tenure as Microsoft's leader, the software giant must face hard problems even he could not solve. Among them: beating Google on the Web while fending off its attacks on desktop computing. (June 26)[Notes:File: Gates announces retirement] When Bill Gates announced he would give up running day-to-day operations at Microsoft to focus on philanthropy with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the future of the software giant immediately came up for discussion. [Notes:SOT: from ordinary folk]But in the two years since that announcement, Google has become the dominant force on the Web and is setting its sights on the desktop as well. Catching up with Google is one of the major goals for Microsoft in the post-Gates era. [Notes:B-roll: Early MSFT product shots, (Bob Software )- young bill gates, etc]From the early days of Microsoft, Gates was the driving force behind everything. He wrote or reviewed much of the early code and stayed immensely knowledgeable about the technology. Throughout the years he was responsible for many of the products that made it to market - good or bad - and took part in every major decision.[Notes:B-roll: Gates testimony]And when the the Justice Department began questioning those decisions and accused the software giant of shutting out competition, Gates weathered one of the companies biggest challenges ... and lost.[Notes:B-roll - various Gates - Ozzie]It is not yet clear whether Microsoft can replicate Gates' management style or implement many of his ideas about the future. The decision making process now falls to a new generation of senior leaders, including Ray Ozzie, Gates' successor as chief software architect.Analysts say perpetuating the Gates' way of thinking may leave the company ill-equipped to handle the sea change in the software industry. ___ ___, The Associated Press.

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