Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 16th Jun 2006 20:29 UTC
A lot of news on Bill Gates's stepping back. Mary Jo Foley wonders if Microsoft will still be the same after Gates has left, while also compiling a list of his 10 biggest Microsoft flops. Elsewhere, Bill Gates's successor, Craig Mundie, talks to eWeek. In addition, Cnet features an interview with both Mundie as well as Ray Ozzie: "Bill Gates leaves some pretty big shoes to fill. Think of Ray Ozzie as the left shoe and Craig Mundie as the right one."
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Member since:
2005-10-06
"The first is awkward, but since it's a contraction for "Gates is", it's correct. The second is a possessive, but the correction for that should be "Gates'"..."
Actually they're both possessive, stepping back is a gerund (the -ing form of a verb used as a noun). They are also both correct. Lynn Truss's punctuation book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, citing Fowler's Modern English Usage, tells us an 's is required after modern names ending in S. The only an apostrophe after an S rule is used for the plurals of nouns, not for modern names, at least not as a matter of principal.
This whole area, the possessive apostrophe with modern names ending in S is indicated to be subject to stylistic choices more than absolute rules, so "Bill Gates' company Microsoft" and "Bill Gates's company Microsoft" are both acceptable.