Nee hij is niet dood, maar hij is niet langer de CEO meer van Microsoft!Microsoft chairman Bill Gates on Thursday promoted his longtime friend and company president, Steve Ballmer, to chief executive officer of the software giant that Gates co-founded. Gates, who is stepping aside as chief executive, will remain chairman and will also take over the newly created position of ``chief software architect.''Gates is taking the action so he can return ``to what I love most - focusing on technologies for the future,'' he said. Over the past year and a half, Gates has turned over much of the day-to-day operations of Microsoft to Ballmer. Though Gates has focused more of his efforts on his vision for Microsoft and the computer industry in recent months, Thursday's announcement did not nece arily mean he is giving up any power in the company he co-founded in 1975 with Paul Allen.