Sales of the Vista operating system have hit the 100 million-mark, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Sunday night at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in what is expected to be his last keynote address.
Microsoft has not broken down what percentage of those sales were from enterprise customers but the company said that 96 percent of all Windows PCs sold through retail are now based on Vista, up from 77 percent last February, shortly after the official launch of Microsoft's latest client operating system.
Even at 52 years old, preparing to shift more of his attention away from the technology trade, Bill Gates can pack 'em in.
People waited in long lines Sunday to hear the Microsoft Corp. chairman make his last big address here at the Consumer Electronics Show. In an interview with the Seattle P-I before his speech, Gates talked about the future of technology and discussed his plans as he prepares to go part time at the company later this year.
He also defended Microsoft's year-old Windows Vista operating system from critics and credited Nintendo's Wii game console for its approachability -- saying he expects Microsoft to "match that and do better."
Microsoft on Monday announced details of the upcoming release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 1, a major update to its recently-released home server product. WHS PP1 will include a number of new features, including support for x64-based Windows Vista clients.
The biggest change to WHS in PP1, however, concerns server backup: With this update installed, WHS owners will be able to backup their home servers to external hard drives for the first time, adding an additional layer of protection to their data. PP1 also adds new remote access functionality such as a simple way to upload multiple files, new photo thumbnail views, and more control of remote user access.
Microsoft founder and Chairman Bill Gates has been giving keynote speeches at Las Vegas conventions, including the Consumer
Electronics Show and the now-defunct Comdex, for decades. Before his last CES keynote speech as a full-time company employee, he talked with IDG News Service Executive News Editor Marc Ferranti about his legacy as
an innovator, the background behind some of the deals announced at CES this week, and directions for Microsoft.
For years, Bill Gates has been trumpeting software's ascent from the lowly PC to everything from cell phones to home entertainment.
No doubt, that move is already taking place. But it's unclear whether Microsoft's dominance in the computer industry will carry over to new consumer-oriented markets, or whether rivals such as Google and Apple will ultimately gain the upper hand.
In an interview just ahead of his farewell speech Sunday at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Gates spoke to CNET News.com about competitors, the future of DVD, and why all of those seamless connections between digital devices exist only in keynote speeches.
Microsoft said Friday that it will give Xbox 360 owners a free video game to make up for poor performance over the holidays by the system's online hub.
Gamers log on to the Xbox Live Web site to buy games, television shows and movies to load onto their consoles, and interact with other players.
Video game blogs such as Joystiq recently reported that players had a slew of problems with the site over the holidays, including trouble signing in, downloading media and getting matched up with online opponents.
Microsoft this week revealed that it sold 4.3 million Xbox 360 video game consoles during the last three months of 2007, powered by hit games like Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3. The company has now sold a total of 17.7 million 360s since the console went on sale in November 2005, about two years ago. Those are actually pretty good numbers, but it's a virtual certainty that the Nintendo Wii has already surpassed sales of the 360, despite being on sale for a year less: Nintendo had sold 13.2 million Wiis by the end of September and the console has remained sold old since its November 2006 launch; Nintendo has yet to release holiday sales figures.
It's all over after Sunday night. That's when Bill Gates, Microsoft's legendary chairman and chief visionary, gives his final keynote speech at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in glitzy Las Vegas.
However, don't expect Gates to provide a lot of previously undisclosed information. Instead, since it's his last appearance at the show, Gates is expected to highlight themes from past CES speeches and to prognosticate about the future.
Although declining to provide details due to non-disclosure agreements, several industry observers who have been pre-briefed said Gates' audience shouldn't plan on seeing many surprises during his final CES performance.
Just as Microsoft's past year was characterized by launches, the next will be defined by a departure.
But even as Bill Gates leaves his full-time executive role, the company will be grappling with some of the biggest competitive challenges in its history, particularly on the Internet.
Here's our annual look at what to watch at the company in 2008.
GATES LEAVING, SORTA: The Microsoft co-founder is slated to end his day-to-day executive duties at the end of June, but he will remain chairman, and he's expected to continue working on selected projects.
Whenever Hakan Olsson gets tired of watching the 108-inch screen in his home theater, he can press pause on a hand-held device -- the one that combines the functions of eight different remotes -- and head upstairs to view the show on any of four other televisoins around his Kirkland home.
His Windows Media Center PC, equipped with dual high-definition tuners, sends the video over his home network and remembers where he stopped, letting him easily resume watching in another room.