Gates shows off Vista in CES keynote

LAS VEGAS–After months of touting Vista’s geekier side, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Wednesday highlighted features of the new version of Windows designed to appeal to the average consumer.

During his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show here, Gates demonstrated new photo-editing tools and a revamped media player designed to improve the way that Windows tackles the most commonly used media files. Gates also showed the improved remote-control experience that will be part of the Media Center edition of Vista.

Gates began his speech by noting his recent appearance, along with his wife, Melinda, and U2’s Bono, as Time magazine’s “Persons of the Year.” He said there were other strong contenders. “Probably if there had been one more hurricane, Mother Nature would have been on the cover,” he said. “For a lot of reasons I’m glad that didn’t happen.”

As he usually does at CES, Gates offered his vision of the digital future. His demonstration illustrated a typical day from the future, which began at home with an on-demand video clip and included a look at a map that showed the location of his family members. After heading into the office, he used three large flat-screen monitors to take part in a videoconference.

Finally he headed to the airport with just his cell phone. At the airport lounge, his cell phone connected to a screen and he instantly had a full desktop to work on. The phone could even connect to a nearby camera. “The phone is very different. The idea of a meeting is very different,” Gates said.

Full article: ZDNet News