It has been reported that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has started to increase the time he spends at Microsoft to assist new CEO Satya Nadella, but it hasn’t been clear exactly what they have been working on or towards in unison. We all saw Gates creating an elaborate Ice Bucket Challenge video on Facebook and Youtube but now it appears he’s also working closely on improving Microsoft Office.
In a talk with a reporter at BBC TV, Gates details that Microsoft’s priority should be making Office much better and that this is on the frontburner of what Microsoft needs to do. "That's the kind of thing that I'm trying to make sure they move fast on," he explains.
He doesn’t specify just how Office should change fort he better but likely enhancements to Office include a touch optimized edition of the Office suite for Windows enterprise users and although Microsoft has teased Office touch for Windows it is evident that the company is still testing it in beta before its debut next year.
Office for Mac is also on the top of the list for him and the company has been investing heavily in OneNote and its Sway, their latest app, Gates also discusses Apple Pay, noting that Microsoft should fair better with their own brand of payment system.
Apple Pay is built on NFC industry standards, and despite this Gates feels "the company will help make sure it gets to critical mass for all of the devices." He goes on to say that that’s not what he’s spending time on at Microsoft though and he goes on to say that his "time on this area is all foundation focused" despite Microsoft having a "really good vision in this."
Gates is queried on whether or not he will be standing with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s Clippers team, but Gates doesn’t commit either way. "I'm not a guy who spends a ton of time watching sports games, but my friends own teams, and I enjoy spending time with them, so at some point, probably."
It goes without saying that a Microsoft watched over by Gates is an exciting one, and we’re more than excited to see what he makes of his time at the helm of the company in the coming months and years.