Keeping Microsoft ahead of the pack

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…directly downloading over the internet. That's the way Mediaroom TV works. That's the way Xbox Live works.

We've got more content with Disney and MGM coming onto that. It's been very, very successful. The convenience of not using media — we've seen that in music. iPod, Zune, your phone — that's how you are going to carry your music.

Your collection — it's up in the cloud. Any new device you get, it's there. That will happen for video too. The actual physical-format battle here isn't really, in some senses, that important. But getting the movies so you can access it through any broadband device — that's the future.

Would you do a Blu-ray add-on for Xbox?
Third parties can do peripherals for Xbox. Obviously, all of the different optical-drive technologies are supported in Windows. At the core, we are about software and making sure the HD activities get to critical mass.

I was reading a bunch of "Biggest tech disappointments of the year" stories, and Vista was on most of those lists. Do you think Vista has some work to do, in terms of convincing people it's something that they need?
Vista passed 100 million (units shipped), which is a pretty phenomenal number. A lot of people put it on their favourite-products-of-the-year [lists] because they are using neat new features that are there. We certainly got a lot of feedback about getting device drivers [out]. There were some compatibility things we didn't handle well. Definitely, we're a lot smarter there.

I'm proud of the product. There are a lot of things that, as the year went on, we got the polish and the extra drivers out there. Vista will be a lot stronger in the next year. We're taking the lessons learned from that and building the next great version of Windows, which will be even better.

A lot of people put [Vista] on their favourite-products-of-the-year [lists] because they are using neat new features that are there

Bill Gates

Is there an opportunity, where it's not tinkering with the operating system, but rather making the overall platform more compelling?
There's none of that we haven't been in, way before there was an iLife. Microsoft Works goes back 15 years. The photo stuff in Windows just keeps getting better. We did a Windows Live release that had photo gallery [component]. Movie Maker is a very strong product, and we are continuing to invest in that.

Can we package it up so it's a clearer message around Live? I think, definitely, there's things to do there, but having those neat scenarios be part of what you just get with a PC, having that be clear — I think that's important for the consumer market.

It seems like Windows Live has become the primary vehicle for that. Is that true?
[For] most of those experiences, because you want those photos online, a lot of the innovation will be in Windows Live. Some things, like Movie Maker, will stay as Windows client things. But Live is the centre of attention. That's a product we will update in a pretty dramatic way on something like a yearly basis.

It seems the notion of Media Center specifically as a way of getting content doesn't seem to be a huge platform. Does merging the Media Center folks with the IPTV folks open the door for one platform?
Yes, we can bring those together. What you are going to see is that IPTV and Media Center have gotten to a size [such] that content people are doing unique things. Robbie [Bach, head of the Entertainment and Devices Division] is going to show some Nascar things, some Fox things. Interactivity and personalisation really count.

Our deal with NBC on the Olympics is about taking video, and we'll offer that on general internet PCs and other ways of getting that video. The idea of programming video and bringing in the interactive pieces — that's a vision we've had for a long time now. It's becoming reality, with Mediaroom, with over one million (set-top boxes), and Media Center a bigger percentage of Windows than ever.

Talkback

Ms is already dead to consumers. How about ZERO successes with consumers since 1995? Huge launches for zero results including: MSN ISP, MSN search, Talking Barney's, Home Networking, WMA music stores, WMP movie stores, Win Mobile, Tablets, Home Media Extender, backing HD DVD and last year's attempt to sell home servers ... and the biggest failure of all? XBox - $15 billion in the hole after 7 years and still third ...

jbelkin 9 January, 2008 18:57
Reply

They aren't really ahead of the pack at all these days.

Ooh, they are big... you can't deny that, but not leading in any way shape or form.

The thing is these days is that they tend to follow.

Someone announces a product and then a few weeks later Microsoft "leaks" a press release saying we were actually working on that... and if you can wait a couple of years you can get it from us, the market leaders, but don't buy xyzzy's product coz it stinks and isn't from the market leader.

Well, you know what, that FUD just don't work no more. The emperor has been seen without clothes and most just laugh these days.

I mean it's nice that Bill is getting out and all that to do his philanthropic stuff but I think even he saw the writing on the wall when he first announced his retirement. It's nice that he gets his moment in the spotlight but, honestly, here is a visionary who had to go back and write a chapter in his big visionary book to cover the internet after he completely missed it the first time...

Just need Ballmer to leave now and perhaps Microsoft can actually achieve something

John Molloy 9 January, 2008 20:53
Reply

Microsoft started out behind and remain so. Apple innovates, Microsoft imitates. They buy up companies and claim their IP, turning it into a Microsoft product. People are getting smarter and are looking beyond MS products for solutions. I started using windows in 1991, after 10 years with Commodore, and then switched to Linux in 2001 and am convinced that I made the right move.

ator1940 10 January, 2008 04:29
Reply

The tenor of Gates' remarks is more akin a futurist, than that of a MS salesman. Maybe he realises that his employees are not able to deliver what he envisages. With all the resources available to them, Redmond is simply not able to innovate. Some examples being zoho and edeskonline (both are free in-the-cloud competitors to the pricey alternative of Windows LIVE).

Sanjiv@Swarup.info 13 January, 2008 06:14
Reply

And all the mice have made better slicker products :)

eg opensource, linux, apache, mysql, gpl...

Then along came Google and then the Elephant wakes up and tries to move fast ... Just abit too late though as the Ark is sailing away :-)

1000270967 13 January, 2008 09:53
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