Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates kicked off the 16th annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) today by highlighting the strong sales momentum and positive customer and partner response to Windows Vista™ in its first 100 days of availability. Gates showcased the tremendous wave of innovation and new technologies now available for businesses and consumers. He also unveiled the name for the next major Microsoft® Windows® platform release: Windows Server® 2008, formerly code-named Windows Server “Longhorn.” In addition, Gates announced new hardware makers and third-party software solutions for the upcoming Windows Home Server.

Gates was joined by Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, who discussed the future of hardware and software development on the Windows platform. Mundie emphasized that for customers to fully benefit from hardware improvements in the years ahead, developers must create applications that take advantage of manycore processors and the increased power and computing resources they provide.

Microsoft also announced that Windows Home Server software will be available to system builders, which will further broaden the choice of Windows Home Server hardware solutions available to consumers.