A bevy of new products

Despite his troubles with the Department of Justice, the Microsoft chairman on Tuesday laid out an ambitious plan to dominate the streaming media business. He made it clear that Microsoft, a partner of Realnetworks, intends to produce software for nearly every point where a consumer encounters digital content. Unlike his Comdex keynote a month earlier, Mr. Gates_s speech at Streaming Media West 99 was what you_d expect from the world_s most powerful software developer. He unveiled a bevy of new products -- some of them actually drawing oohs and ahhs from the crowd. This definitely wasn't the slideware we have grown used to. On the other hand, Mr. Gates was light on details. Almost no information was available about delivery dates, prices, and product specs. As he has done time and time again, Mr. Gates came out with a strategy that puts Microsoft in a position to keep winning without eroding its Windows monopoly. Before he launched into a litany of product introductions, Mr. Gates assured the audience of content providers, "Our goal is not to be a media company, but to provide the software infrastructure to those who are publishing and accessing content." Mr. Gates acknowledged that people will use a variety of different devices to access audio and video content from the Net. But he laid out a plan that shows Windows driving those devices -- with the PC as the anchor device for people at home and at work.