It may be Bill Gates's last day at Microsoft, but it's also…my last day at Tech Digest!

Long-term readers of Tech Digest will know that I have more than just a crush on Bill Gates and Microsoft. Of course, I’m usually objective when writing about their products, and Apple stuff too (I will confess to owning an iBook and have had two iPods to date), but there’s just something about Microsoft that makes my heartbeat quicken. Adam Frucci over at Gizmodo summed up the attraction well, and managed to hit the it on the head when he said “Windows is an OS that feels structured and it makes sense”, and that it has “its engine exposed, and while it might not always be pretty, if you know what you’re doing you really have access to the whole thing”.

That’s why I’m both pleased – and sad – to tell you that today, I am joining Bill Gates on the miserable journey home, clutching a cardboard box full of desk furnishings like personalised mouse-pads, and Star Wars figurines. Yep, it’s my last day here at Shiny Media, and my last day as your Editor on Tech Digest. After three years of service, it’s time to hang up my log-in privileges and hand the reins of Tech Digest over to Daniel Sung, who has been Editorial Assistant on the site the last few months. His more than capable hands take over this Monday, the 30th of June, and if I’ve managed to gain any fans along the years, don’t stress – you’ll still be able to find me online as of the 7th of July, working at a major UK tech site.

See over the jump for some behind-the-Shiny-scenes photos, and some of my highlights from the past three years…

Left: The first time I ever touched an iPhone. Right: Licking Halo 3

My favourite posts
– This comedy unboxing of Halo 3, parodying Gizmodo’s infamous ‘unbagging’.
– This rant about how old media knows nothing about new media, which got picked up by…The Guardian of all people.
– This one about my top ten favourite wastes of time on the internet.
– My live-blog of Bill Gates’s keynotes speech at CES in 2007, which was split into five different posts.
– And my live-blog of Bill Gates’s Vista launch in London, which was split into four posts.

Left: With the Acer Aspire One netbook. Right: With the Shiny staff, wearing pink t-shirts for The Cancer Foundation

My favourite videos
– This video where Gary and I compared the best PMPs and wandered into a lingerie store.
– This one where I dressed as Mario and attended London’s Guinness Book of World Records attempt to gather the most gaming costumes together.
– This one where Gary and I battled with the Pleo and Roomba robots in Hyde Park.
– My interview with Loic Le Meur, where he admitted he looked down at Bill Gates’s, err, USB stick when stood next to him at an urinal.
– And my last ever video, for My Chemical Toilet, where I got to pull Gemma’s hair.

Left: Eating a MacBook Air. Right: Dressing up in Ann Summers costumes with Shiny girls

My interesting facts
– I have worked on 14 blogs at Shiny Media over the past three years, starting on Bayraider, and ending on Tech Digest, where I’ve been the past 18 months.
– I’ve written 2,194 posts here on Tech Digest alone.
– After Gemma Cartwright, our fashion editor, I’m the longest-surviving fulltime member of staff.

Many thanks for reading my articles here on Tech Digest, and hopefully I’ll see you online at some point in the near future!