Only Microsoft could pull off a stop-the-presses announcement essentially saying that its number two guy was leaving in two years. That’s a lifetime in the software industry. But with the slew of new Microsoft products and technologies rolling out between 2006 and 2007, the role of that number two guy — in this case, their Chief Software Architect, Bill Gates — looms large.In his press conference, Gates noted that “With Great wealth comes great responsibility,” echoing Spider-man’s dictum “With great power comes great responsibility.” Perhaps the choice of quote might offer a clue as to how Gates sees himself: The vastly misunderstood Peter Parker type, who just wants to do good but is routinely vilified by the very public he wants to help. And no one could argue about all the good he’s done with his charitable work (which he’ll be focusing on come 2008). He doesn’t get nearly as much public acclaim for his considerable work in remaking the face of software in the late 20th and early 21st century. Interestingly, Gates seems to have receded into the background of late, leaving Steve Ballmer as the pugnacious public face and tireless cheerleader. Yet Gates’s fingerprints, though subtle, are all over recent Microsoft efforts. The flashy UI touches in upcoming Vista don’t seem all that Gatesian, but the underlying architectural changes in Longhorn server, changes to the WinFX stack (.Net 3.0), revamping structural underpinnings of Active Directory and SharePoint all point to someone deep under the hood, rewiring the guts and tinkering with the motor. The choice of Ray Ozzie, the man who brought us Lotus Notes and Groove, is an interesting, though not unexpected, choice. Ozzie’s body of work suggests that he understands that collaboration is the key to future advances in business … and in software. That is not necessarily the Redmond way, since Microsoft built its early reputation on empowering the single user. Ray Ozzie will push the group-cooperation agenda. But there’s a catch: Ozzie may be a brilliant, even visionary, developer, but he has traditionally leaned on big, beefy collaboration platforms. Groove (which Microsoft bought in 2005) is no exception. Heavyweight apps, though, are so old school. The real software darlings these days are lightweight collaboration packages with a Web 2.0 pedigree. Mash-ups, Web service interfaces, on-the-fly collaborative efforts are the wave of the future. It’s worth pondering whether Ray Ozzie can adapt.Talk back to me below. Technology Industry