Bill Gates Shows Off New Products

Microsoft Unveils 3 Beta Releases: Vista, Longhorn, Office 2007

(CBS) 
With its upcoming products Gates stressed that his company has put an enormous amount of effort into security and that he is "very proud of the progress we've made facing down these problems in a way that no one else has." He says that Microsoft developers "went through a methodology for design and testing that brings security up to a whole new level."

Windows Vista will feature a number of enhancements including a service called "Sideshow" that can be used to display photos, text, reminders, stock quotes and other data on external screens connected to the PC.

These can include LCD displays on the cover of a laptop (so you can see some data even when the PC is turned off) or external displays such as an electronic picture frame that can sit near the PC displaying your favorite photos from your PC's picture collection.

Another feature of Vista will allow users to quickly set up an ad-hoc network between portable and desktop PCs in the same room. Rather than having to go through the hassle of connecting to a network, devices with wireless networking capability will be able to discover each other and exchange files in real time — making it possible for people in meetings, for example, to quickly send around files for collaborative work.

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CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid interviews Barry Crume of chip maker AMD, one of the companies that helped develop the metering technology for the new pay-as-you-go computers.

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Another innovation in Windows Vista is technology that supports "hybrid drives" such as one introduced at the show by Samsung Semiconductor that include a standard hard disk with non-volatile flash memory.

These drives, according to Microsoft and Samsung, use flash memory as a buffer or cache to temporarily store data so that the drive, instead of spinning the entire time the PC is running, has to do so for only a few seconds every few minutes, to copy data from the memory to the drive platters.

The advantages to this technology are said to include an extra 8 to 10 percent of battery life on laptops as well as less wear and tear on the drives which should improve overall reliability.

Computers should be faster and, based on a demo at the conference, applications should load much faster because parts of the program can be stored in the drive's flash memory which is faster than the hard drive itself. Also, if a laptop is dropped, the user is less likely to lose data because the drive is less likely to be in a read or write mode where it is more vulnerable to shock damage.

Microsoft along with AMD, Intel and Transmeta also used WinHEC to introduce "FlexGo," a new business model for selling "pay as you go" PCs into developing countries. Instead of having to pay the full cost up front for a new PC, consumers in countries such as Brazil will be able to buy full featured PCs for about 30% of their regular price and pay on an hourly basis for use. Once the PC is fully paid for the meter would stop running and the family would own the computer.

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A syndicated technology columnist for nearly two decades, Larry Magid serves as on air Technology Analyst for CBS Radio News. His technology reports can be heard several times a week on the CBS Radio Network. Magid is the author of several books including "The Little PC Book."