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Read the email Bill Gates sent to employees for Microsoft’s 40th anniversary

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Image Credit: Jordan Novet/VentureBeat

Microsoft is celebrating its 40th anniversary on April 4, 2015. That happens to fall on a Saturday, though, meaning today is the last day the company can rally the troops. And who better to do that than cofounder Bill Gates?

Gates sent an email titled “Microsoft’s 40th anniversary” to all of the company’s 100,000+ employees today. With such a large number, someone was bound to post it, and Darrell Prichard did just that. While the tweet has since been deleted, we’ve transcribed it for you below:

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Tomorrow is a special day: Microsoft’s 40th anniversary.

Early on, Paul Allen and I set the goal of a computer on every desk and in every home. It was a bold idea and a lot of people thought we were out of our minds to imagine it was possible. It is amazing to think about how far computing has come since then, and we can all be proud of the role Microsoft played in that revolution.

Today though, I am thinking much more about Microsoft’s future than its past. I believe computing will evolve faster in the next 10 years than it ever has before. We already live in a multi-platform world, and computing will become even more pervasive. We are nearing the point where computers and robots will be able to see, move, and interact naturally, unlocking many new applications and empowering people even more.

Under Satya’s leadership, Microsoft is better positioned than ever to lead these advances. We have the resources and drive to solve tough problems. We are engaged in every facet of modern computing and have the deepest commitment to research in the industry. In my role as technical advisor to Satya, I get to join product reviews and am impressed by the vision and talent I see. The result is evident in products like Cortana, Skype Translator, and HoloLens — and those are just a few of the many innovations that are on the way.

In the coming years, Microsoft has the opportunity to reach even more people and organizations around the world. Technology is still out of reach for many people, because it is complex or expensive, or they simply do not have access. So I hope you will think about what you can do to make the power of technology accessible to everyone, to connect people to each other, and make personal computing available everywhere even as the very notion of what a PC delivers makes its way into all devices.

We have accomplished a lot together during our first 40 years and empowered countless businesses and people to realize their full potential. But what matters most now is what we do next. Thank you for helping make Microsoft a fantastic company now and for decades to come.

Gates starts by talking about the past, but then quickly puts the focus on the future. He underlines CEO Satya Nadella’s leadership and highlights three new Microsoft products: Cortana (released but still on its way to PCs), Skype Translator (currently in preview), and HoloLens (not yet ready).

The next decade will indeed be a very exciting one for Microsoft. If the company plays its cards right, it may even be around for another 40 years.

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