WE had fun doing the audio and video podcast interview with new Microsoft Philippines managing director Rafael “Pepeng” Rollan, who shared his thoughts on Windows Vista, software piracy and open source.

The podcast session also gave us a chance to catch up with Microsoft execs Sam Jacoba and Mae Rivera-Moreno, as well as Joy Mirasol of their PR firm Perceptions. Special thanks to Mae for making sure we could set up our equipment properly at the Microsoft office and rearrange the furniture as needed. And to all Microsoft employees there that day, our sincerest apologies. If you were wondering why the centralized aircon in your office was suddenly turned off, we’re to blame heh The aircon was too loud in Pepeng’s office during the podcast and we asked if it could be turned off before we realized that it was centralized. D’oh!

Anyway, check out Episode 4 of The Newsmaker Vidcast, hosted by INQUIRER.net executive editor Leo Magno. INQUIRER.net reporter Lawrence Casiraya took the video, while I produced the vidcast.

Click here for the audio podcast.

I GOT to meet a lot of people in Clark, Pampanga when I attended and blogged about Media Nation, and one of the coolest journalists is Joe B. Javier, director for Allied Businesses and Special Projects of broadcast network ABC-5.

Joe and I had an interesting discussion about technology, online journalism and games at our breakfast table, which also included Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer; my college orgmate Dodge Dillague, who directs shows for ABC-5; our INQUIRER.net reporter Thea Alberto; and PDI reporter Alcuin Papa, who was also my UP Tinta college orgmate.

It was great to find out that Joe is really into technology — he loves gadgets and is an avid gamer, and you’ll find out more about that soon. He’s also a big believer in the power of online journalism and tech-enabled news delivery.

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(Originally published as a column piece on Feb. 8, 2007)

I DIDN’T go to the Vista consumer launch over the weekend, partly because I had other things to do with my family, partly because all the hoopla that Microsoft is trying to whip up over Vista is starting to smack of desperation.If Microsoft is really convinced that consumers have very good reasons to upgrade to Vista, then why waste all this money and try to ram it down our throats (and get us to buy more RAM, heh) that Vista is something we should love. Now, I’m not going to say that Vista sucks until I try it out — read the articles of our reporters Erwin Oliva and Alex Villafania for their coverage of the Vista consumer launch — but I really doubt that I’ll upgrade to Vista.

Why? Because even now I hate the bloatware that Microsoft saddles us with, which is why I use the open source app Firefox instead of that ton of bricks masquerading as a web browser Internet Explorer 7, and rely on Gmail instead of Outlook or, good lord, Hotmail.

This doesn’t mean I’m a Microsoft hater. I’m technology-agnostic, and if the technology works for me and I like the solution, I don’t care which company provides it. But somehow, the only products from Microsoft I love are the original Xbox (and even that’s with some reservations, heh) and the Xbox 360, which is why I bought them. I’m on Windows XP mainly because I’m a PC user (nope, I’m not part of the Cult of Mac) and I’m a gamer, so until Linux becomes a true gaming platform, that won’t be my OS, even though I’m a fan of open source as the most sensible alternative to piracy in a developing country like the Philippines.

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