He will go down in technology history as one of the great businessmen of the era. While Gates could be called a fierce competitor, or even unfair depending on your perspective, it's hard to ignore the benefits that Microsoft brought to corporate productivity or the returns to shareholders." Jason Maynard, software analyst with Credit Suisse
"Gates built the first software company in the industry, and I think he built the first software company before anybody in our industry knew what a software company was. And that was huge." Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, speaking at the All Things Digital conference
"He impeded the growth of the independent software industry. People in the industry don't think of Microsoft as a company with innovations, they think of them as powerful and successful." Marty Goetz, co-founder and former CEO of Applied Data Research, one of the first independent software companies
"There are still lessons from what Microsoft has done that, as an entrepreneur, I can't ignore. Gates proved in consumer software that the best product doesn't always win-that still holds true in consumer Web apps." Sean Ammirati, VP of business development and product management for mSpoke Inc.