Bill Gates announces new Microsoft products

Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp today gave a face to Microsoft’s new dream of unifying hardware and software in the form of mobile devices, home networks, storage and entertainment devices, online browser-based software and the next-generation of Windows Server in his main speech at the Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2007 in Los Angeles.

"Mobile PC innovation is probably the fastest growing part of the whole windows PC area," Gates said.

Gates announced that their new product Windows Vista, launched on 30th January, is selling like hotcakes. “
As of last week, we've sold nearly 40 million copies," Gates said. "That's twice as fast as the adoption of Windows XP, the last major release we had."

He also added that the customers response has been unbelievable and the achievement was beyond their expectations.

In a subtle manner, Gates also celebrated the success of beating Microsoft’s biggest competitor, Apple, saying that Windows Vista’s sale even jumped the total install base of Apple, without mentioning its name. Apple has also been hitting at Vista in its TV commercials.

Gates also confirmed the rumors suggesting the near launch of their new Windows Server software, nicknamed “Longhorn” and officially to be known as Windows Server 2008, is scheduled to be released by the end of this year.

He demonstrated the Windows Home Server and announced the new hardware partners for making machines for running it: Gateway Inc., LaCie and Medion International.

Microsoft has already declared that HP will have home servers based on the technology later this year. The company also announced that it will release a version of the software for system builders, named eight independent software vendors that will provide applications for Windows Home Server, and revealed its plans to kick off the Code2Fame Challenge for developers to create Windows.

Some of its features include network access protection, basic monitoring like the ability to verify that devices attempting to connect have an active firewall and antivirus technology, and that after its launch Microsoft would also have a beta of its new Hypervisor virtualization technology as shown by Ian Hameroff.

Steven Leonard explained how a home network can store, share, and backup data to and from PCs connected to your network.

Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, picturised some futuristic products that would be able to integrate phones and computers to determine peoples’ requirement for medical attention.

"We are really fanning out in terms of the range of devices that people want to use as a computer and we need to think about how we make the hardware ecosystem move in this direction," Mundie said.

Microsoft in its endeavor to expand its market of products and services has developed products that are way more advanced than the desktop computers. The products demonstrated included a light bulb shaped PC which was one of the winners of Microsoft’s Next-Gen PC Design Competition submitted by Allen Wong and Matt Conway of the Johnson Fain architectural and planning firm and an office phone with a screen for finding contacts and placing calls.

Gates said he dreams of getting mobile phones fully connected to Windows.

"The phone is going to be the PC," he said. "The PC is going to be the phone."

Two Microsoft program managers also demonstrated the ability to show up a photograph from a wirelessly enabled digital camera to a PC automatically and immediately after taking the snapshot.

A series of upcoming phones were also shown that will work with its Office Communications Server and Office Communicator business software like desktop phones from Polycom and LG-Nortel that sport their own screens.

Windows Home Server will be available through the retail channel within a wide range of new hardware products. The first products are targeted for availability in the second half of 2007. It will be available in English, German, French, and Spanish.

OEMs will set the final pricing for their products, depending on the storage capacity and additional capabilities. We'll have more information to share in the future.