Windows 7 under spotlight in Gitex speech

Dubai: Steve Guggenheimer, Microsoft's Vice-President for OEM, capped the opening day of Gitex 2009 by giving a keynote speech on Windows 7 to a packed house.

Most of Guggenheimer's presentation, which was less a speech and more a product demonstration, focused on how the company was working to bridge the growing number of devices on the market.

"One of the things we're working on is how we enable a plethora of screens that use the same technology … to have a consistent experience across those devices."

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Guggenheimer said that software will continue to converge, but that devices will only diverge.

He estimates there are 100 million computers sold ever year, about 1 billion mobile phones, and countless other devices including speakers, home servers, or digital picture frames.

The software that Microsoft hopes will help bridge this gap is Windows 7. Guggenheimer said the company had taken input from millions of users in 200 countries.

The main things the company had learned was that users want computers to be easier to use, work all the time, and have the ability to do more things, such as picture editing or social networking.

He also focused on various aspects of the new system, including its networking capabilities, its ability to interact with touch screens, and it graphics capability.

Guggenheimer was joined on stage by Patrick Naef, a senior Vice-President for the Emirates Group IT. Naef said the airline had been testing Windows 7 since May.

"We are pretty proud to be one of the two companies across all of the Middle East and Africa region to be part of the earlier adopter programme," Naef said.