Gates Opens CES With Scorn
Rival Google may be nipping at its heels, but Microsoft wasn’t flashing any defeatist signs Wednesday as it showcased its latest plans to help make living in the digital world safer, easier and more fun.
In his 10th keynote to kick off the International Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates highlighted the Windows Vista program, a major operating system upgrade set for release later this year. He also discussed how Microsoft’s Xbox game console and media-oriented software for PCs and electronics gadgets are aiming to help consumers connect more easily with each other, get more entertainment, and deliver more high-definition video.
“Consumers are getting more and more connected, and software is at the center of that,” Gates said.
Gates’ speech was just two days before Google hosts its first CES keynote, in a sign of the internet giant’s rising influence. Rumors are swirling among analysts that Google may unveil a Google-based PC, or some kind of Google-based software that would compete directly with or at least indicate the increasing irrelevance of Windows desktop software, Microsoft’s bread and butter.
In a memo to his top executives in November, Gates acknowledged that Microsoft should act quickly in offering web-based services to best formidable competitors.
But in a phone interview preceding his address, Gates downplayed a Google threat.