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By silicon.com, 8 September 2005 11:40

NEWS As the countdown begins to silicon.com's sixth annual Agenda Setters poll of tech's 50 most influential individuals, it is time to look back at those individuals who held top 10 positions in 2004. Today we see what Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect has been up to.

Bill Gates may still regularly top lists of the world's richest people but the founder, chairman and chief software architect of the world's biggest software company has never made it to the top of silicon.com's annual Agenda Setters list in the five years it has been running. He came closest in 2003, when he was edged out of the top spot by arch-rival Steve Jobs.

Will this year see Gates reassert himself at the top of the tech tree or will yet another of the 'old guard' software company founders, along with Oracle's Larry Ellison and Sun's Scott McNealy, continue to fall away and lose touch with those who are classed as the industry's true Agenda Setters?

The initial impression looking back over the past 12 months is that it has been more a year of 'taking care of business' than blazing any trails for Gates and Microsoft, with tough battles being fought on several fronts.

Security and the Trustworthy Computing programme continue to eat up Redmond's resources, and barely a month has gone by without some critical Windows exploit being discovered or another virus targeting users of Microsoft's platform. To that end, Gates has started to make more noise about Microsoft's entry into the antivirus and security market.

Then there is the ongoing antitrust battle in Europe, which has seen Microsoft forced into releasing a version of Windows that ships without its own Media Player bundled in.

Microsoft has also had to deal with savvy customers playing the open source migration card in an attempt to broker cheaper licensing. Despite the high-profile Munich open source switch, Microsoft has fought its corner well here - though again it has had to dig deep for a massive marketing programme aimed at educating businesses about the hidden costs of Linux.

On a more personal level, Gates has spent more time this year on his philanthropic activities with the donation of $436m to fund research into fighting diseases such as malaria and TB.

He lobbied the world's political leaders at the Davos economic summit and then shared the stage with U2 frontman Bono and other rock stars at the Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park this summer, where the software billionaire addressed the crowd about 'making poverty history'.

But silicon.com's Agenda Setters is about looking forward and Microsoft is still involved in some of the key battles that will shape the future of both business and consumer technology.

The next year will see Microsoft finally release Longhorn (now called Windows Vista), the next-generation version of the Windows platform.

Battle for control of the desktop will also be fierce as Google dips into the stash of cash from its recent IPO to fund acquisitions and new innovations in search and browser technology. That, and Google poaching a key Microsoft employee, even drove Gates' sidekick Steve Ballmer to recently declare he wanted to 'kill' Google.

Gates also faces a battle on the consumer media front with his arch enemy Steve Jobs, as Apple continues to steal a march with iTunes and the iPod. So will it be another year of distractions or a year of setting the tech agenda for Gates?

He'll make the list - Gates is still synonymous with IT for so many - but with so much controversy and competition we're not betting on a top 10 finish.

silicon.com's Agenda Setters panel, made up again of CIOs, analysts, VCs, consultants, lawyers, academics and other experts, convenes in September at our London offices with the results revealed at the end of the month. If you want to pass on your comments for our experts - about Bill Gates or any other contender - drop us an email at editorial@silicon.com.