The Microsoft Keynote - So what else is new?

Michael Gartenberg | January 07, 2007, 10:36 PM

OK, so it's not BillG's swan song at CES (but notice how prominent Robbie Bach was at the keynote) but let's face it, this year might be perceived as pretty slow for Bill and company compared to past years. While in the past we've been treated to TabletPC, XBox, Media Center, SPOT and other initiatives, some successful, others less so, this year there was very little new stuff (other than Windows Home Server and the news that XBox will be an IPTV platform and I'll talk about that separately elsewhere). But that's not necessarily bad.

I believe Microsoft is tired of announcing new stuff that doesn't ever materialize or shows up in a form very different than what was shown. I think that's a good thing. Look for more products to be announced closer to launch and that are more feature complete than we've seen in the past. For example, last year at CES, it was all about the Toshiba Gigaabeat and re-birth of PMC combined with Vongo and Urge media services. By summer it was all about Zune. The old notion of waiting until version three has taken a toll on Redmond. I think we're going to see more emphasis on stuff that works well out of the gate and that means less stuff announced at an event like this.

The other part is the emphasis on Vista. Let's face it, Vista is the most important product that Microsoft is shipping in 07 so it was natural that much of the keynote was devoted to Vista and trying to generate some buzz and start turning up the volume towards launch. Many of the things shown at the keynote while jaded to some were brand new to most folks. And even the most jaded among got to see some new stuff that MSFT has held back until now. Some of the new PCs are really hot and will help drive the Vista message.

So while I think some may be critiquing the keynote as slow, I think it was the right way for them to go. The real question now, is what's going to happen at that other keynote in SF on Tuesday. Stay tuned.