Far be it for me to start blogging about Windows topics in a Mac blog, but this one is a special case. Yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman and CEO gave the Keynote speech. Which, incidentally, is also his last one as he is retiring from Microsoft.

It’s interesting to note in comparison with a Steve Jobs Keynote how an MS Keynote would progress. For one thing they have more gimmicks and entertainment mixed in. They have to work harder (I guess because they have less interesting points to share), and there is a lot of creative stretching involved as well. Nothing to write home about though.

Our favorite gadget and tech sites gave it equal time and had online real-time coverage of the Bill’s CES Keynote, just like the Macworld Jobs keynote speeches. It’s kinda odd reading though, specially if you’re used to following Macworld coverages. Check out the live reportage of Gadgetell and Engadget.

One of the more entertaining moments is a seven-minute produced clip about Bill’s last day at Microsoft, with appearances by Matthew McConaughey, Jay-Z, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and even Apple stalwarts Bono and Al Gore (Apple board member). It’s one of those things Apple could have done, but it’s a bit surprising Microsoft did it. Gizmodo’s Brian Lam says “this video makes Bill Gates look cooler than Steve Jobs”, and I agree (up to a point: Bill wore a pink shirt and a purple sweater to the Keynote).

I enjoyed the video immensely, and you can watch it for yourself here.

Bill, you old coot, we’re going to miss ye.

Apple is apparently losing ground to Microsoft in the digital media player department - well, at least in one category. According to the latest reviews from reputable sources like PC World, PC Mag, CNet, Wired and YahooTech the newly-released Zune 80 trumps the iPod Classic in almost all departments.

Among the comments are that, for the same price and storage capacity, the Zune 80 is smaller, thinner and lighter, has a larger screen, FM radio, wireless peer-to-peer sharing, wifi syncing with your PC, a great interface, an equally good controller, good battery life, great video performance, a design-customizable back panel and more. Even the Zune Marketplace looks better than the iTunes Store, which Dean Takahashi says looks like a spreadsheet.

This proves you can’t be a loser all the time. Go, Bill!

(I honestly am not sure what these posts about Microsoft digital music players are doing in an Apple-centric blog, except for the fact that these things give us perspective - and make us feel better about our biases.)

More details and official confirmation has come out about the new version of Microsoft’s beleaguered music player. These include:

• pricing - 80gb (harddrive) model costs US$249; the 4gb flash costs US$149, the 8gb US$199; the old 30gb will sell at US$199
• wifi syncing (nice one, actually; no, really)
• the Squircle is real, and is touch sensitive like the iPod’s
• the 80gb version comes only in black, has a 3.2-inch screen and is thinner than the original
• the flash Zunes come in red, green, pink and black
• sorry, none are brown
• no longer WMV-exclusive; you can use h.264 and mpeg4
• squirting is still alive and well
• new sites: Zune Social, Zune Marketplace
• FM Radio
• November launch

Now back to regular programming. (Hey, in case you’d like to know, the iPod Touch started selling at PowerMac Center branches here in Metro Manila beginning this afternoon; the 16gb version goes for around PHP22,900.)

From The Too-True-To-Be-Good Rumor Department:

(Artist’s Concept)

Microsoft, that never say die company, looks to be releasing the Zune 2 next month. Two versions at that, a hard-disk-based one, and a flash memory version. Sounds familiar.

Thinner, flash-based, larger capacity, video playback, the new flash Zune reportedly looks more like a nano than a full-sized iPod, while the HDD version is thinner than the old Zune. Rumor mills are abuzz with the news, but we’ll wait and see in November.

Gluttons.

(Via Engadget)

A pair of posters sighted in New York City over the weekend. Wapakkk!!!

(Via Engadget)