There wasn't much future-oriented "wow" in Bill Gates' WinHEC keynote today, instead his talk focused on products that are available today (Vista) or in the near future (Windows Server 2008). I'd call this an "efficient" speech--one that focuses on today's products and today's revenues.
It would have been interesting though to see what new technologies Microsoft will be aligning around for the next five years. Maybe there are other WinHEC keynotes and sessions that will address this.
For instance, I'd like to see more focus on ad-hoc networks. What if two kids are sitting in the backseat of a car, playing with their UMPCs and they want to play each other in a game? Or what if 30 students are in a classroom and they want to divide up into groups of three or four and collectively brainstorm and take notes? How can they do this trivially and efficiently?
Or what about Microsoft's vision for fully-equipped low-cost PCs for schools, etc? What technical innovations does Microsoft see necessary. The OLPC computer seems have lots of ideas. I imagine Microsoft has some too.
Or what about the ultra-thin Haiku UMPC concept? Is it dead? Or is this a near term possibility? What does an ultra-thin computer mean in terms of usability? Vista?
What about WiMAX and other wireless broadband technologies? Aren't we on the cusp of some major changes coming from Intel? And just look at the early adopters. Many have adopted EVDO. How does Microsoft see this rapidly changing trend impacting Vista and/or its partners? What vision does Microsoft have for connections that "just work" when you're at a conference or in a meetting or in a taxi?
Or what about drivers on laptops? Is there a way to enable more devices to fully run when the next version of Windows comes out? Will devices just work? Or not?
It makes sense to focus on the current state of the industry--especially for an opening keynote--however, it would have been great to see where Microsoft wants to go for the next five years.


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