Bill Gates isn't going anywhere. Come July 2008─heck, probably before that─a press release will hit the wires announcing Gates's intention to remain as Microsoft's Chief Software Architect for one more year.

Would this really come as a surprise? After all, how could he go quietly into the night and let Microsoft Windows Vista be his legacy? Sure, Gates is a true technology visionary, and he certainly has a lot to be proud of. His operating system helped make the PC ubiquitous. I guess that's a legacy. Even so, people tend to remember the last thing you did and not the first.

Recent work in philanthropy could build a different sort of legacy for the world's once-richest man. Gates has partnered with many different groups to achieve these good works, and a Nobel prize may be in his future. That, too, has legacy cred. Yet, yet, yet...

Let's not forget, though, that Bill Gates built the world's most important software company. He changed the way we work, play, and live. Given his power and popularity, I think it would be safe to assume that the man has an ego and a certain level of pride. Thus the current overwhelmingly negative perception of Vista must hurt like a deep, multicolored bruise.

And what was he thinking when he mistakenly announced last month that Windows 7 would arrive in 2008? I assume he was trying to dream into reality the possibility that he could have a major impact on a popular operating system we'd all be using soon. The reality is that we might see Alpha 1 of Windows 7 early next year, but don't expect to see the full-blown product before 2011. Gates misspoke because he cannot stand that Vista will be the lasting legacy he leaves behind.

But the world's wealthiest social misfit has only himself to blame, right? Yes and no. True, Vista was built and delivered under his watch, but I think Gates decided a good four or five years ago that he wanted to do something more with his time and money than think about the next big thing in computing. So, he left the development of Vista, which was pretty well mapped out as early as seven years ago, to his lieutenants, and he really didn't look back when major features were dropped.

By the time Vista shipped, Gates was forced to get on stage and talk about the "Wow." I remember thinking that he didn't seem as excited or as wistful as when his company launched Windows 95 in 1995 or XP in 2001. By then, I'm sure he knew that there was trouble ahead.

Microsoft can keep telling us 'til it's blue in the face that the news on Vista is good. Just look at the numbers, the reps say. Yeah, the numbers for systems shipping with Vista are great. The software giant expects its partners to ship with the new OS, not an old OS they really don't want to support anymore. The numbers for single-box sales and upgrades are probably not as good, though.